Given my experience with the test weekend against the Mollywhoppers, I decided to settle in on giving Jaga-Jaga some serious consideration as a pair to Maelok. That meant a bunch of games in rapid succession, but also ample amounts of painting. First as always, the painting:

First up, Longchops and his little Kingfisher bird buddy. I’m really pleased with how he turned out, and especially with the little bird. Hah. 

Gatorman Soul Slave was another fun model to do up. It may be my favorite Privateer Press model in a funny way. This image doesn’t show it, but the way he is bound up and decorated is just really intriguing as a notion: the unwilling warlock attachment. 

I did up a second Gatorman Husk as well, as I’ve toyed with the idea of running two of them with Maelok (likely to settle on just one, sadly). Definitely enjoy this model as a model, and it’s fun but inconsistent in the game. 

Last but not least, a Gatorman Witch Doctor. They’re a bit skinny compared to the other Gatorman models, and doesn’t have quite the facial character of the others. I’m pleased with how it turned out though. 

As for games, I knew that I needed to give Jaga-Jaga a much more thorough testing. So I got in a whole heap of games!

 

(Clockwise left to right) I played two games over a two day stretch against Larry, fielding Makeda3 (a brief break from Circle to dip into Skorne). In both games I took Jaga-Jaga, which doesn’t have exactly the greatest match-up against Madeka3’s high defense and armor. In the first game, I had to go for the kill after Molik Kharn took out my Wrestler due to poor placement on my part. I managed to use the Cauldron to get her away from shield guards, and then managed to survive a Kharn free strike with the turtle after a bit more shooting (and an Oil hit). Brought her down to just a couple of boxes, and she died to fire the start of her turn. Second game again it hinged around a Molik Kharn missile, which this time my warlock managed to survive thanks to absurdly crummy dice on my opponent’s part. Next I played Jaga-Jaga into Larry IV’s Ossrum list. It was a monumental grind-fest, but the Sacral Vault really shined. It took out so many foes, from hammer dwarves to Kayazy Assassins. Gets so much work done against living infantry. Wow. I won on scenario 7-2 at the bottom of turn 6. 

 

(Clockwise Left to Right) Another three games, all with Jaga-Jaga. First up was a pair of games against Ryan, trying out a Kromac2 beast brick list. We split them, both times on assassination. Jaga died the first time to an unexpected path werewolf, and managed to live through an assault the next game and answer with a kill of Kromac2 herself. Third game was against Steve’s Retribution list. It was Helynna with double colossals, and a very tough match for Jaga-Jaga because her shooting was very limited in destructive power. I managed to win on time and scenario advantage. I’m reminded how envious I am of Retribution’s pieces every time I face it. 

 

(Left to Right) I forgot to take a photo of the first game of this set, Jaga-Jaga into Larry’s Iona list. It was a brutal match, I lost far too much early and simply had no answers to what I was facing and simply lost on scenario. Second game was a brief interlude of Maelok, again into Larry’s Iona. It was a scenario loss for me as well. I need to do much better at spacing my Gatormen Posse members. Final game of this series was Jaga-Jaga into Justin’s Barnabas2 Minions list. It was a win for me, though much of it was that it was his first time using the lesser warlocks. Jaga-Jaga ended up with enough shooting to take even Barnabas2 out of action.

Overall it’s a start to seeing what Jaga-Jaga can do. I’m pleased to start delving into her more deeply as a warlock. Looking at my chart (below), she is now the Warlock that I’ve had the most reps with–and I’m feeling reasonably competent about much of her game. Now to work on spacing the Croak Raiders just so to get the most out of them without losing them all.

Primary Warlocks	Games	Secondary Warlocks	Games
Maelok	7	Barnabas1	6
Jaga-Jaga	10	Dr. Arkadius	3
Rask	7	Midas	2
Barnabas2	1

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

404/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 129 (Win/Loss 78/51); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Minions: 

20 Wins (Vlad1, Issyria, Kromac2 x2, Maddox x2, Magnus2, Kryssa, Helynna x2, Irusk2, Amon, Feora3 x2, Siege2, Vlad2, Ossrum, Makeda3 x2, Barnabas2) / 16 Losses (Venethrax, Ossrum, Syvestro, Madrak3, Krueger2 x2, Iona x6, Rahn, High Reclaimer, Terminus, Kromac2)

Convergence of Cyriss:

3 Wins (Haley3, Vlad1, Caine2) / 11 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus, Vyros2, Ossrum, Stryker2, Vlad2)

Legion of Everblight:

38 Wins (Denny1 x2, Scaverous x2, Issyria, Wanderer, Skarre1, Sloan, Naaresh, Gaspy2, Madrak1 x2, Strakov2, Kaya3 x2, Helynna x3, Sorscha2, Kaelyssa, Dreamer, Jaga-Jaga, Denny3, Elara2 x2, Thexus, Sorscha1, Maelok x3, Heretic, Strakov1, Borka2, Caine2, Karchev, Baldur2, Gaspy3, Gaspy1) / 18 Losses (Denny1, Krueger2, Dreamer, Sorscha1, Jaga-Jaga, Old Witch3, Caine1, Issyria, Child, Helynna, Gaspy3 x2, Karchev, Vlad1, Barnabas, Heretic x2, Madrak1)

Skorne:

10 Wins (Anamag, Sorscha3, Kolgrima, Gaspy2, Feora1, High Reclaimer, Vlad1 x2, Haley2, Skarre3) / 5 Losses (Rahn, Magnus1, Denny1, Haley2, Syvestro)

Protectorate of Menoth:

8 Wins (Gaspy2, Helynna, Vlad2, Sorscha1, Vlad1, Kraye, Garryth, Naaresh) / 1 Loss (Madrak1)

Like I said last time, I wanted to do some Barnabas1 testing. I think he and Rask are the two potential choices to pair with my Maelok list. I really like the way his Feat helps handle a variety of infantry forces, and his Swamp Pit spell remains pretty nasty against gunline armies. While Rask protects on the advance as well, after Rask’s Feat turn and alpha there isn’t as much play left in him. It’s one of those “you better have such a clear winning situation on turn 3” kind of lists. I think Barnabas1 sacrifices some of the force protection Rask gives, and instead permits longer term force protection for some of his pieces. And then there’s always the dark horse of Jaga-Jaga, which means that Maelok would need to be the one to power thru gunlines–but she could give some destructive power on both cracking armor and killing swaths of infantry that both Maelok and Barnabas1 lack.

My team for the America’s Team Championship in January has arranged a practice event this month against five other Teams from Pennsylvania and Maryland. Like I will for the ATC, I prepared a match-up sheet for this one. Good lord so many Circle players (8 of the 30 are Circle), but was pleased to see that Minions ties for second-most-represented with Cryx. I’m feeling a little iffy on my match-ups, so you’ll see a lot of yellow squares. But this is what the breakdown looks like with Maelok and Barnabas1 as my committed choices.

Out of the 25 potential opponents, I’m seeing only two that don’t have a clear choice for me to make (I think). That helps a lot with my decision-making. And I only have two where I’m feeling like it’s really list chicken. It’s also about 65% Maelok as a choice, so that helps too: the list I’m feeling is my main list is the one I’ll be playing more.

Proviso: I might be totally wrong on these match ups, and my team helped me on some of them (especially the Circle ones). But it’s a good experiment to go thru and think about how I’d do these with my given lists. That in itself gives feedback on Barnabas1 and my current build of him.

In advance of the practice event, I got in some more painting and practice games of my own to be ready (practicing for practice, hah). First up painting:

Finished a Blind Walker. I really like this warmest for Maelok, both aesthetically and in the game. Being able to arc Mortality is a huge boon for him. I think he turned out great. 

Maelok’s list also has a Thrullg, which was a good way to paint something slightly different. I’m planning on doing my Bog Trogs in this red, to compliment the way that the Gators are brown and the frogs will be brown and orange. The Thrullg has that sorta trog “feel” to it, minus scales, so I gave it a whirl. Really liked how it turned out. Will bring out the reds that are more rare on the rest of my stuff really well. 

Like I said above, I got in a few practice games in the week before the practice event:

(Clockwise left to right) First up, a Barnabas1 loss to Larry’s Iona. That caster is a meta-bender to be sure, and I still haven’t solved it–though I got closer this time than I have in the past. Next up I got a pop-and-drop assassination win against Chad’s Feora3. Being able to walk out of jam after the Feat enabled me to get pieces to clear a path and then a wrastler onto a knocked-down Feora. Finally, I snuck in a game with Barnabas2 against Mike’s Cygnar with Maddox. It was a sort of a palate-cleanser game, as I just wanted to try something different quick–and had just assembled Barnabas2 (who is such a cool model). I won the game, tho I expect the next time I use him against Mike he’ll do much better. I fear Barnabas2 may be a one trick pony. 

The practice event itself was a lot of fun. It was organized by the Mollywhoppers, and we ended up facing both of their teams (Baltimore area) as well as another group from New Jersey (Team Meat).

(Clockwise left to right) First I faced Chris, from Mollywhoppers Lincoln. He dropped High Reclaimer with double Judicators, and I dropped Barnabas1. It was a tough game, and I managed to take out one of the two Judicators, but it still wasn’t enough and he killed Barnabas. Our team went 2-3 this round, but we also didn’t get the exact match-ups pairings that we were looking for. Second round I played Maelok into Anthony’s Vlad2 Armored Corps. I had Barnabas1 as my drop for this one, but I re-thought it because it was a relatively small AC list (few units). I managed to win on scenario by killing enough to score and denying him scores on his turns thanks to effectively sturdy gators. Our team went 5-0 this round, as we got the match-ups we were generally looking for (mine was probably the roughest). Final round was against the Mollywhoppers Booth, and I took Barnabas1 into Brad Park’s Terminus Ghost Fleet. I definitely adjusted my sense of the match-up on the advice of my team captain, Rob, but I still felt it wasn’t as bad as he suggested it was. I managed to get an assassination run that left Terminus with only three boxes, after it was clear I was on the losing end of the attrition game. So a loss, but not as problematic as it could have been. Definitely felt the limitations of Barnabas1 across this one and the HR match up in round one. 

Overall, I fear that my Barnabas1 list is more reactive: that it’s me responding to others’ threats and hoping to answer them. I asked Brad after our game what he’d fear to see from a Minions list, and he said that Jaga-Jaga is a straight up red match for many Cryx lists, and we talked through reasons why that might be good. Left me feeling better about my performance and the weekend. I’m thinking that maybe with Jaga-Jaga I can move to where I’ve got more green match ups, and it’ll just mean that a few match ups are clearly red (otherwise known as “play Maelok and count on the armor plus scenario”).

Primary Warlocks	Games	Secondary Warlocks	Games
Maelok	6	Barnabas1	6
Jaga-Jaga	2	Dr. Arkadius	3
Rask	7	Midas	2
Barnabas2	1

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

391/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 120 (Win/Loss 72/48); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Minions: 

14 Wins (Vlad1, Issyria, Kromac2, Maddox x2, Magnus2, Kryssa, Helynna, Irusk2, Amon, Feora3 x2, Siege2, Vlad2) / 13 Losses (Venethrax, Ossrum, Syvestro, Madrak3, Krueger2 x2, Iona x4, Rahn, High Reclaimer, Terminus)

Convergence of Cyriss:

3 Wins (Haley3, Vlad1, Caine2) / 11 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus, Vyros2, Ossrum, Stryker2, Vlad2)

Legion of Everblight:

38 Wins (Denny1 x2, Scaverous x2, Issyria, Wanderer, Skarre1, Sloan, Naaresh, Gaspy2, Madrak1 x2, Strakov2, Kaya3 x2, Helynna x3, Sorscha2, Kaelyssa, Dreamer, Jaga-Jaga, Denny3, Elara2 x2, Thexus, Sorscha1, Maelok x3, Heretic, Strakov1, Borka2, Caine2, Karchev, Baldur2, Gaspy3, Gaspy1) / 18 Losses (Denny1, Krueger2, Dreamer, Sorscha1, Jaga-Jaga, Old Witch3, Caine1, Issyria, Child, Helynna, Gaspy3 x2, Karchev, Vlad1, Barnabas, Heretic x2, Madrak1)

Skorne:

10 Wins (Anamag, Sorscha3, Kolgrima, Gaspy2, Feora1, High Reclaimer, Vlad1 x2, Haley2, Skarre3) / 5 Losses (Rahn, Magnus1, Denny1, Haley2, Syvestro)

Protectorate of Menoth:

8 Wins (Gaspy2, Helynna, Vlad2, Sorscha1, Vlad1, Kraye, Garryth, Naaresh) / 1 Loss (Madrak1)

Well, I’m close to settled on my Minions pairing to do a deep dive with in practice. I’ll put an asterisk on one warlock, as I still have a few ideas I want to test with Jaga-Jaga and Barnabas1 and could maybe, maybe still move to Dr. Arkadius. The Jaga-Jaga idea probably more cute than good, but still want to check it out (need to assemble a few more models for it). And Arkadius is great, but pulling up those relatively poopy Farrow warbeasts is a chore.

So for right now it looks like Maelok and Rask* will be my Warlocks that I’ll seek depth of practice with. But first up, more painting:

Finished up the first two of my many minimum Gatorman Posse units. Two more minimum units to go, but I’m going to change up some of the bits I’m painting before tackling the next set. There are markings on the back of each of the units to keep them separate–and those correspond to the feather colors of their leaders. 

I at least got a number of chances to test varieties of a Rask list once I started to get games in.

(Clockwise from Left) Started a mini Rask-a-thon with a game against Siege2, piloted by Mike. Was a good game, and I felt that I had some answers to the trenchers and traded well as I went with the game. Won by assassination after Siege had to get much more personally involved in the battle. Second game was against Chad’s Feora3. I didn’t feel like I played this one particularly well, sorta fumbled more than a few things. But I managed to clear his battlegroup pretty effectively, to the point scenario became a smooth win. Was fun, and staying safe from Feora3 was a huge part of the challenge. Final game of the set was against Steve’s Rahn. I was ahead on scenario, but as always: where there’s a Rahn, there’s a way. A personal charge to clear Orrin Midwinter, then some careful chain blasts to free up the TK lanes, and Rask was dead. Yikes. Even after dispatching both arc nodes early and effectively, you still need to play it super-conservative. 

(Left to Right). I wanted to give Jaga-Jaga at least one more go, but I definitely don’t think Larry’s Iona list was a good test. It punched my ticket pretty well, top-to-bottom (was a clear attrition loss about to get ugly). We did a rematch because that game was pretty quick: this time Maelok took the field. Better, but still abysmal. Iona is a serious, serious list and I need to think more about how to face her. 

So far so good-ish with Rask, as I’ve played him more than any other warlock in the faction. 21 games in to Minions and still liking their overall options and play, which alone is a win. Gonna do a bit of Barnabas1 testing, and then settle (finally) on a pairing.

Primary Warlocks	Games	Secondary Warlocks	Games
Rask	7	Barnabas1	2
Maelok	5	Jaga-Jaga	2
Dr. Arkadius	3	Midas	2

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

376/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 114 (Win/Loss 69/45); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Minions: 

11 Wins (Vlad1, Issyria, Kromac2, Maddox, Magnus2, Kryssa, Helynna, Irusk2, Amon, Feora3, Siege2) / 10 Losses (Venethrax, Ossrum, Syvestro, Madrak3, Krueger2 x2, Iona x3, Rahn)

Convergence of Cyriss:

3 Wins (Haley3, Vlad1, Caine2) / 11 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus, Vyros2, Ossrum, Stryker2, Vlad2)

Legion of Everblight:

38 Wins (Denny1 x2, Scaverous x2, Issyria, Wanderer, Skarre1, Sloan, Naaresh, Gaspy2, Madrak1 x2, Strakov2, Kaya3 x2, Helynna x3, Sorscha2, Kaelyssa, Dreamer, Jaga-Jaga, Denny3, Elara2 x2, Thexus, Sorscha1, Maelok x3, Heretic, Strakov1, Borka2, Caine2, Karchev, Baldur2, Gaspy3, Gaspy1) / 18 Losses (Denny1, Krueger2, Dreamer, Sorscha1, Jaga-Jaga, Old Witch3, Caine1, Issyria, Child, Helynna, Gaspy3 x2, Karchev, Vlad1, Barnabas, Heretic x2, Madrak1)

Skorne:

10 Wins (Anamag, Sorscha3, Kolgrima, Gaspy2, Feora1, High Reclaimer, Vlad1 x2, Haley2, Skarre3) / 5 Losses (Rahn, Magnus1, Denny1, Haley2, Syvestro)

Protectorate of Menoth:

8 Wins (Gaspy2, Helynna, Vlad2, Sorscha1, Vlad1, Kraye, Garryth, Naaresh) / 1 Loss (Madrak1)