Tag: Skorne

Practice (and Painting) Makes Perfect

So I’m prepping for the Michigan GT in mid-October, which requires some practice with lists and also both lists to be fully painted. And while I’m making decent progress on painting my Skorne (see below), I am worried that I won’t have two viable lists. Playing both lists as Immortals seems like it would really limit my options, so it was time to dig out a faction that I haven’t played in quite some time–not since the America’s Team Championship in January: Convergence of Cyriss. I thought I would get in a couple of practice games with them just to knock the rust off, in case I wanted to bring a group with more options (and fewer items I need to complete painting to field).

But first, as always, painting:

Finished up a third unit of Skorne Immortals. These have some more special bases, and I’m really pleased with the jade scheme. Turned out quite effective as the scenic bases add that little touch. Going to mix these guys in with my other units to spread out the look (and maybe eventually decor-up some of those bases).

Also finished an Extoller Advocate to go with the unit. These guys are neat, and I had fun doing the glowing eye. Picture doesn’t quite have the right focus to show it, but I’m pleased at least.

First game with Convergence was exactly like riding a bicycle. Yes, I had the knack but I was still pretty wobbly. Faced off against Andy’s Khador, led by Vlad1. That makes three different Vlad1 games in about the last five outings. It was a good clash, and I managed to win on scenario with Orion.

Second game was with Locke, taking on Larry’s Ossrum Mercenaries list. Not only is the Ossrum list super-solid, and Larry a great player, but I was tripping all over myself with this warcaster as I played this match. Locke has a deceptive number of moving parts in her playstyle–which will be super fun to unlock, but meant that the first outing was a bit of a disaster. Needless to say I lost this one.

Third game was with Axis vs Pat’s Vyros2 list. I made a key mistake with one servitor’s positioning, which led to having a bit too much loss on my side. So I had to go for an assassination–that was pretty likely, until my dice decided to be outside the curve. While I ended up losing, it was a fun game, and it definitely showed me the power that Axis can have in scenario play.

I’m still not sure if I’m going to take Convergence or Skorne to the Michigan GT. The lure of playing my new Immortals lists are sure tempting, but they just may not have the depth to be effective for a strongly competitive tournament. That said, I’m definitely still rusty with the Convergence–and that has me questioning taking them to a big tournament as well. Plus they don’t have good answers for one of the boogeymen lists of the meta right now (Primal Terrors)–which doesn’t excite me.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

280/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 90 (Win/Loss 57/33); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Convergence of Cyriss:

2 Wins (Haley3, Vlad1) / 9 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus, Vyros2, Ossrum)

Skorne:

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

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)

Protectorate of Menoth:

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

So. Much. Pain.

Ah, experimenting with new Warlocks. The pain of losing a lot as you get used to them, and the pain of winning ugly when you do win. It’s just like Skorne as a faction.

But first up, I finished another model: the Supreme Guardian.

This was a great model to build, love putting him into my list. I chose to make him just a bit deeper green than the smaller ones, to represent the jade being a bit thicker. Pretty pleased how it turned out.

On the gaming side, I continued to try out a lot of different Warlocks in different ways. I’m trying to settle in on a smaller group that works, so the practice continues.

First game was against Larry’s Trolls, running Kolgrima. I took Xerxis2 in Masters of War, as I definitely want to try running him with more infantry. Won on scenario, by being able to leverage how compact she needs to stay to be safe.

Next game was with Morghoul3, trying out a Masters of War list again. Took on Ryan’s Cryx, led by Gaspy2. Won on scenario. Love the toolbox of this warlock–he definitely has some components that make him really tricky.

This game was with Morghoul2, in a Disciples of Agony structure: what I’m calling my “Fifty Shades of Pork” list (as those Paingiver Task Masters are carrying handcuffs for the Minions they’re enslaving). Faced off against Chad’s Protectorate of Menoth, led by Feora1. Prey helped a great deal in this matchup, allowing quick work to be made of the Flamebringers, and then helping against Warjacks. That caved in a side, which let me get strong scenario presence. Feora1 had a shot on my Warlock, but couldn’t land any of the sprays so I won the game on scenario. Was a good learning match for this list.

Played a second game with Morghoul2 as well, but neglected to get photos. It was again the Fifty Shades of Pork list, against Larry’s High Reclaimers with double Judicator list. I managed to get a strong scenario position via attrition, which really helped. The list does have to think carefully about where it applies force, but it’s been fun to play so far.

Next up was a match versus Larry IV and his Khador. It was Vlad1 with ample rockets, versus my Zaal1 Exalted list. While that’s hardly the list I want to face with the Immortals, I got a pretty healthy scenario lead which helped me then get enough clear that the Kovaas could move in with Last Stand and assassinate Vlad1.

Followed that with another two (sorta) games with Zaal1 against Larry’s Cygnar. He had a shot at assassination early, so we decided to play it out w/ proxies then re-rack and try the game again regardless of the success or failure to see how the lists do against each other in more depth (as if he hadn’t gone for the assassination). He managed to shoot Zaal1 to death with that one. In the re-rack I fared much better in terms of surviving the onslaught, and got to the point where it was a done deal to assassinate Haley2 after attrition advantage. Was a good split (counting it as a win and a loss, as it was mostly like two games), and an approach I really was glad we did. Gives more reps with these casters, and more exposure to how games can play out. Helps each of us improve as players.

Finally had a set of games at a game day at our new local store. Played against Rob’s Skarre3 trolls-in-cryx list, and won not thanks to anything I really did so much as on clock advantage (brought Zaal1). Then faced Larry IV’s Khador a second time–again with Vlad1 rockets. I took Zaadesh2 in a really bricky list, and managed to push the raw force of the warbeasts right up to where Zaadesh could get a shot at killing Vlad himself (which he did). Third game was against Larry’s Syvestro list–my first time playing against Crucible Guard. Went about as well as you’d expect: took the wrong list into them (a Zaadesh2 brick that couldn’t handle infantry well) and wasn’t ready for some of their rules interactions. Still a fun game, and amusing to play both a father and a son on the same game day in sequence (You’ll see that my only picture of the Crucible Guard game is the one Larry took, which is sadly more me than the models).

All-in-all a heap of games in a short amount of time. I’ve really enjoyed getting back into Skorne as a force, and it will be where I’m at for at least a while in my games.

Warlock	Number of Games	Warlock	Number of Games
Makeda1		Hexeris1
Makeda2		Hexeris2	3
Makeda3		Zaal1	5
Morghoul1		Zaal2
Morghoul2	2	Zaadesh2	3
Morghoul3	1	Mordikaar
Rasheth		Jalaam
Xerxis1		Xekaar
Xerxis2	1	Naaresh

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

261/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 87 (Win/Loss 56/31); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Skorne:

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

Legion of Everblight:

Protectorate of Menoth:

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

Convergence of Cyriss:

1 Win (Haley3) / 7 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus)

A Tour of the Empire

Well, part of the new-found vigor for playing Skorne in Warmachine and Hordes comes from painting something new. I got in some games, and finished up a new Warlock for the faction–one that I think has definite potential as a force leader: Zaadesh2.

I’m using the Aztex bases from Dragonforge for these models too–realizing that the portions of inlay carving can be a great way to connect my color scheme with the Exalted models that I’ve done in the sort of jade look.

I played a couple of games with my Skorne, and lost both of them. Not surprising given that it’s been over a year since I last bandied these models about the table. I definitely believe that Warmachine is a game where you plan on losing your first 20 games with a faction. So I need to lock in for the losses, so I can start to improve.

My first loss was vs Chad’s Magnus1 list, with Zaal1 immortals. I wanted to try them out of theme, to bring Swordsmen along, which really wasn’t as great as I hoped. The swordsmen sure hit hard, but only a couple ended up making it to my opponent’s forces because of the ranged threat. I didn’t have quite enough “oomph” to take out what I needed in the heavy Warlock list, and Immortals just weren’t survivable enough with only 20 of them. (Note in the picture I’m subbing in fire tokens for soul tokens)

Then I had another loss in a very close battle against Justin’s Denny 1 Satyxis list, with Zaadesh2. This was a really bad matchup for me: battlegroup heavy Skorne versus 40 Satyxis and a powerful debuff caster. I managed to get to the point where I lost 2-1 on scenario at the end of 7, with each of us having under 30 seconds on our respective clocks. Was a hell of a grind. I like Zaadesh2’s play style of clouds, beasts that hit back when they’re attacked, and counter-charge threat. I need to keep exploring this Warlock more.

I was listing to a Muse on Minis podcast about Skorne, and one of the commentators mentioned an interesting personal challenge he did when he was playing Khador: setting a goal of playing every caster in the faction at least twice. I liked that notion myself, and as I have all the Warlocks in Skorne except for two (which I’ve now ordered), I thought I would try it myself. I’m seeing this as the best way to get some depth of experience with each of the Warlocks, to start to at least conceptualize how they play on the table. Obviously more than 2 games each would be ideal–but this is the starting aim. So I’m going to, for a bit, track my game count with the various warlocks in the faction–a true tour of the Skorne empire.

Warlock	Number of Games	Warlock	Number of Games
Makeda1		Hexeris1
Makeda2		Hexeris2	3
Makeda3		Zaal1	1
Morghoul1		Zaal2
Morghoul2		Zaadesh2	1
Morghoul3		Mordikaar
Rasheth		Jalaam
Xerxis1		Xekaar
Xerxis2		Naaresh

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

245/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

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

Skorne:

2 Wins (Anamag, Sorscha3) / 3 Losses (Rahn, Magnus1, Denny1)

Legion of Everblight:

Protectorate of Menoth:

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

Convergence of Cyriss:

1 Win (Haley3) / 7 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus)

Is it a Sign?

So, Privateer Press recently did their Mystery Box promotion. They were clearing out some kits from their warehouses, and offered random deals of $240 worth of product for $60. So I, like many, took a chance on one of them. There was a guaranteed huge base model in each, and I figured it would be neat to see what they sent.

I received the Skorne box, which included a Desert Hydra, the starter box, a unit of Cataphract Arcuarii, and an unit of Cataphract Ceteratii. And I had a friend who also got Skorne with their mystery box buy, who traded me theirs for some of my Protectorate of Menoth backlog. I last played my Skorne army back in April 2017, but getting a sudden influx of models for them (even if not the most game-capable) has suddenly made me wonder if this is a sign to give them a try again.

I’ve been feeling a bit of malaise with the Legion of Everblight, which is probably pretty normal after being 56 games into the faction in this year alone. Some summer complications didn’t help, of course, but I’ve definitely noted that my passion for them has slowed a bit. I’ve been successful with Legion, but there’s just some play style bits that I’m finding don’t exactly suit my interests. So I took the boxes as an omen, and broke out the Skorne for a Champions tournament this past weekend (what better way to play a faction you’re rusty on than limited selections of warlock and theme?).

I did manage to finish two Legion painting projects in the meantime, but I am putting a Skorne piece in my queue next (even if just for a change).

I’m pretty pleased with how Anamag turned out. I like the work I did with a dremel to make her shirtless under her robes (plus drilled the belly button). Think it gives her a good look. She’s definitely a powerful warlock, but I just don’t think I like her play style of empowering medium-based infantry. I left Trollbloods in many ways because of that problem!

Also painted up a Harrier, to serve as a Fury battery for Anamag’s list. It plus the Blightbringer is all I’d run in her beast package.

So taking the Mystery Box as a sign, it was time to break out the Skorne. I was definitely rusty with them, so I went with choices that I knew pretty well as a Warlock from the options: Hexeris2 and Morghoul1. I built the Hexy2 list in Imperial Warhost, as Black Spot synergizes really well with the Siege Animantarax. The other theme choice for Champions right now was Masters of War. I pretty much ignored the free cards, and ran Morghoul1 with a melee beast brick using Tiberion and getting the theme benefits. Not ideal, but worked for my purposes (ideally to scare people away from armor skews, which Hexy2 would struggle in). I ended up dropping the Hexy2 list all three times, which was pretty much what I hoped–as I felt stronger by far about that list.

1 Hexeris2 Skorne vs Anamag Legion of Everblight

Shots from the three games, clockwise from left. First round was against Charles’ Legion, using Anamag. Was pretty funny that he was using the model and faction I likely would have brought to this event. Their ability to crack armor remains very strong, and I started to lose enough models that it was time to make a play on Anamag–I was successful at delivering a Titan thru some traffic to get the job done. Second round was against Justin’s Sorscha3 leading an Armored Corps force. This time I had to play really carefully, as it was a lot of armor to face. I managed to get a good look at Sorscha3 so I took it. Knocked her down with a thrown Man-o-War, got a few spells into her from a channeling Cyclops, and then the arcing poison shot from the Aradus Sentinel ended up cranking the damage and killing her. Final game was against Pat’s Rahn list. I, as usual, played a bit wrong into Rahn. Lost two heavies in a turn when I could have lost only one, and that hurt. I managed to get ahead in points when we got down to very little left (Hexy2 himself ran up and ended the Helios). But I ran out of time trying to stall him from equalizing/gaining with what he had remaining. Was a fun game, and I’m proud of making it to the final match.

We did this Champions event with a bracket system, where starting spot was decided at random. Was a fun way to do it. Makes it tense to know what’s coming down the line.

Overall I had a fun time dropping my Skorne back onto the table after over a year of not playing them. I don’t know if I’m going to truly obey the sign provided by the random mystery box. But at least for now I’m going to get a few Skorne games in, and paint at least one Skorne model.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2018):

239/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2018: 76 (Win/Loss 49/27); 2017: 120 (Win/Loss 86/34): 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14)

Legion of Everblight:

Skorne:

2 Wins (Anamag, Sorscha3) / 1 Loss (Rahn)

Protectorate of Menoth:

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

Convergence of Cyriss:

1 Win (Haley3) / 7 Losses (Heretic, Rask, Kaelyssa, Xerxis, Siege2, Testament, Bradigus)

Little Skorne and Trolls / Lots of Lucant

This has been one of those two-week cycles where I ended up playing three different factions. I definitely need to get focused, but of course, instead I’m all over the place. I did get a bit of painting done, so that before the games:

Conservator for my Convergence of Cyriss force. Definitely a pain to paint, as the little flying hover base is bothersome at best. Still, I’m pleased with the results.

On the game front, I got in a game with my Skorne (Morghoul2), a game with my Trollbloods (Hunters Grim), and three games with my Convergence of Cyriss. I’ll describe each in turn.

First off, I faced Michael’s amazingly painted Trollbloods army. I’ve been running a fair amount of Immortals with Zaal2, and I wanted to see if other warlocks might work with them–so I experimented with Morghoul2, as his Feat plus Mortality could make make Immortals survivable against infantry and hit like a truck against anything they target.

We played the Entrenched scenario from Steamroller 2016, and things went a bit more pear-shaped than I wanted them to. I was making great progress on my opponent’s zone, but his heavy Warbeasts on my right flank were chewing their way to my Warlock faster than I wanted to see. It soon became clear that he was going to clear my zone and start scoring faster than I could his.

Recognizing I needed to do something, I set up Morghoul2 to get a chance to go in for the kill on Horgle2. When I tried it, Horgle2 only had a single transfer. Yet still I came up just short–two hit points. With Morghoul2 bloodied and out of Fury, Horgle2 returned the favor and finished off my Warlock with his flaming weapons.

Having just played against Trollbloods, I was suddenly itching to field my own. They’ve been on a bit of a vacation along with my Protectorate of Menoth recently. So I swapped Grim2 into a list that I had been working on with Jarl, and gave him a whirl.

I faced off against a different Michael, but again with a beautifully painted force–this time Circle Orboros led by Kaya2. The battle was pretty close at the end–I took a chance on assassination using Grim2’s Feat turn, and came up just short. I got lucky with Grim2’s distance keeping him safe, so while Michael did a great job caving in two heavies on my right flank, I had a few ranged models left with enough attacks on the Warlock to get her in the second time around. Mage Sight is a great tool against Circle, so I had a list advantage at the start. A great game against an always-fun opponent!

So while I’m a Hordes player at heart, I still have been fiddling with a variety of Warmachine lists. I’m liking what Lucant does with Convergence, even if the models are a bit less interesting to paint. I snuck in three games with them to get in more practice. All three times were the same Lucant list that I had some success with in the Appalachian Cup qualifier I attended.

First I faced Steve’s Retribution army, headed by Helynna. Both lists proved to be quite sturdy, but I managed to push my way to 5 to 3 victory in the Take and Hold scenario.

Second game was against Ryan’s Skorne, led by Makeda1. This battle was much more iffy, as I wasn’t exactly trading well against her forces. I saw an opening, so I used a Cipher to do a Slam power attack–that got a Cyclops to fly over Makeda1 and knock her down (with it dying in the process). I was able to fuel a Galvanizer to move in and finish her off. A close battle and lots of fun!

Final game was against Rico’s Rhulic Mercenaries force. He took his Earthbreaker and Siege Crawler, with ample gun bunnies and some Ogryn Assault Corps. It was a tough test of the Lucant-in-theme’s shooting defenses, but I managed to weather the storm and eventually trade heavies to get the Earthbreaker off the table. Lucant won by assassination the turn after.

All-in-all a good set of games. I’m blessed to have a great meta where four different shops have open Warmachine and Hordes gaming space.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

181/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 44 (Win/Loss 32/12/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

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

Convergence of Cyriss:

6 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask, Helynna, Makeda1, Gorten) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

Trollbloods:

5 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn, Kaya2) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

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)

Steam for the Steamroller

So I’m just starting out with some Convergence of Cyriss. What better place to practice than a Steamroller? Answer: plenty. This week I attended a qualifier for the Appalachian Cup tournament and finished Fifth overall with my Convergence. I also got in a healthy amount of painting and a quick game with my Skorne as well.

First, as always, is the painting:

Corollary. The essential piece of Convergence technology. And an amazing puzzle to be solved while playing. Getting it in the right spot to start AND end your turns for maximum focus efficiency is a definite art form. And I’m just starting out.

The Convergence theme list Destruction Initiative is all the rage, so I had to get some servitors ready to go with it. Above are my first finished ones: two groups of Reflex Servitors. Little mechanical land mines waiting to blow up enemy infantry.

For the Steamroller, I managed to get enough silver base coat onto everything to make it at least passably appealing, and broke my general rule of “play it painted”. I went down to Morgantown, WV for a qualifier for the Appalachian Cup, and had a great time. I played two new people, one person I haven’t faced since Mark II, and a player I’ve run into in fun games as well as tourney games in the past. I brought two lists, a Lucant list in theme and a Sytherion list with some infantry. If you’re the one person that actually follows my blog, you’ll know that I’ve at least played Lucant once before–but I’ve never had Syntherion hit the table. With the requirement of fielding each list at least once in the tourney, I was surprised to finish where I did. My only loss was with that Syntherion list of untested awfulness (tho I lost more to the quality play of my opponent to be sure). I’ll share my Father Lucant list below, as that was the only list that’s worth sharing:

Convergence of Cyriss – Lucant
Theme: Destruction Initiative
4 / 4 Free Cards 75 / 75 Army
Bunker – Steamroller Objective

Father Lucant, The Divinity Architect – WJ: +28
– Corollary – PC: 6 (Battlegroup Points Used: 6)
– Inverter – PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
– Cipher – PC: 16 (Battlegroup Points Used: 7)
– Cipher – PC: 16
– Conservator – PC: 12
– Diffuser – PC: 6
– Galvanizer – PC: 5

Transfinite Emergence Projector – PC: 19
– Permutation Servitors

Reflex Servitors – 3 Reflex Servitors: 0
Reflex Servitors – 3 Reflex Servitors: 0
Attunement Servitors – 3 Attunement Servitors: 0
Attunement Servitors – 3 Attunement Servitors: 0

Optifex Directive – Leader & 2 Grunts: 4
Optifex Directive – Leader & 2 Grunts: 4

THEME: Destruction Initiative
—
GENERATED : 04/04/2017 14:15:08
BUILD ID : 2038.17-03-15

My first game, I squared off against Andrew M’s Maddox list in theme. The cool thing about these qualifiers is that lists are submitted in advance, and pairings for the first round are made public. Andrew had a Sloan list as well as Maddox, and given my Lucant list I had a pretty good idea that that’s what I had to drop no matter what–but that he would know that and likely drop Maddox. I was correct, and we faced off. Attrition was mixed for both of us, but my servitors slowed him down a bit. He had an opening to have both of his heavies beat back into Lucant, so he went for it. The first was stopped with Watcher, but the second did get there. Lucant got lucky on damage rolls and I was able to survive the attempt and go on to win. It was a great game, and Andrew was definitely the most fun opponent I’ve played in quite some time. Was a great game, and it was for sure luck that got me thru–a bit higher on his final roll and Lucant would have been dirt.

Second game I faced Rob’s Helynna list, that featured three Manticores. Syntherion was my drop as there were too many weapon masters on his side of the table for Lucant’s warjack-heavy list. I made a bunch of mistakes in the game that didn’t help me any, but Rob was also clearly in better positions and able to dictate the flow of the game. It was fun, but I definitely need to get some practice in with Syntherion before fielding him again. With a loss, but not locked in a later round, I proceeded onward.

Third game was against Josh’s Haley2 list (again, choosing his not-Sloan drop due to Lucant being a likely drop from me). It went much like my first game against Cygnar. Good opponent, fun match up, got to the point where he went for it on Lucant and came up short. At that point, with Haley’s feat gone, he was going to lose his Stormclad to Lucant and there were three Convergence heavies positioned to charge the Stormwall–not to mention Haley2 standing far too close to Warjacks for comfort. Ended with a win for me.

My fourth game I faced Larry IV’s Minions. He had Rask and Barnabas, and he saw clearly that I was likely to drop Lucant. With all those steady models, Rask seemed like the effective choice. We had a good match, maneuvering around the central zone of the Pit scenario. We traded turns of denying the other person scoring, and reached a 2-2 tie in scenario points. The firepower of the Transfinite Emergence Projector began to weigh on his gatormen, however. I managed to get to the point where I could take out the warbeasts that weren’t on full Fury, and then shoot the TEP into Rask to end the game with a pair of sprays.

Overall I was really pleased with my performance, as 5th place is about the best I’ve ever done in a Steamroller this size. Best part was all four of my opponents were great people, and that always makes gaming all the more fun.

The day after the Steamroller, I nabbed one more game with my buddy Charles, continuing our campaign story.

Morghoul1 had been dispatched by Zaal1 after discovering four ruins of power, and tasked with opening them. Grayle, who had faced Zaal1 in the past, showed up again to try and stop him. While I managed to unlock enough ruins during the game to progress the story scenario in favor of Skorne, Morghoul1 himself was felled by Grayle after my assassination attempt came up short. I managed to get behind him, but that still wasn’t enough to end his attack. I should have known that Morghoul1 was a little feeble as an assassin, and put Admonition on myself to move away when he turned to face me. But I went for it greedily with buying additional attacks. Double-strike is so tempting with him, but P+S 9 is just feeble. The only thing close were some paingivers, as my Bronzeback was still a turn away from getting into the fray. Grayle turned around and manged to eat thru my single transfer and finish Morghoul1 off with little problem.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

169/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 39 (Win/Loss 28/11/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 3 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax, Grayle)

Convergence of Cyriss:

3 Wins (Maddox, Haley2, Rask) / 2 Losses (Venethrax, Helynna)

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)

Trollbloods:

4 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

Ancients and Machines

Game on, game on. This post has a whole heap of Skorne games with my growing Immortals collection, plus some silly Convergence experimentation.

On the painting side of things, I’ve just not been feeling my Retribution force. I love the color scheme when it’s done, but getting the red tones right is laborious. So I decided to just dabble a little with yet another Warmachine faction: Convergence of Cyriss. Yeah, I know. I should focus on one faction (Skorne) or just stick with Retribution.

I started with an Inverter, as it seemed like the ubiquitous choice for both the game and practicing painting. After a first attempt that I greatly misliked, I moved to this scheme which I am much more pleased with.

I also finished up Father Lucant for my Convergence of Cyriss. I’m particularly pleased with how he turned out. I’m liking the ceramic-looking select plates, and the light blue of the robes isn’t too off-putting (that’s the bit I struggled with the most). I’m working on the glow effects, and the one on the top of his staff is the one that I’m most proud of so far.

I also painted up another unit of Immortals for my Skorne army. They’re on the left, meeting the first unit I completed on the right.

I traveled during the start of March, so I was a bit slow on games at the start of this month. Managed to sneak a few in though, and then the floodgate opened as I got a bunch in all right in a row.

Started out with a Skorne vs. Skorne match-up against Kevin. He fielded Makeda1, while I tested out my first draft of a Zaal1 list. I survived a pretty good assassination attempt, and managed to get four Last Stand-buffed charging Immortals onto Makeda1 during feat turn. The boosts to hit were enough to connect, and despite transfers managed to knock her out. Her self-harm on her own feat turn helped a great deal. It was a very close match and a great learning experience about how Zaal1 runs (and how Exalted models trip all over each other if I’m not careful).

My initial attempt at Zaal1 hit the field again, against Ryan’s… Skorne… using Makeda1. A little bit of deja vu, but different options change the battle considerably. The big object in the middle of the battlefield had two arches, but charging would have to be straight thru because of size and angles. That lead to a bit of round-robin, and Ryan’s swordsmen started out of place and facing incorporeal solos which proved to be the definite edge I needed.

The game was the Crossroads of Courage Season 3 Week 3 scenario, with teleporting circles. There was a bonus for having your warcaster/warlock in them with an assassination, so I actually had to have Zaal1 go for it to seal the deal. The rest of the army killed Makeda’s transfer targets, and he teleported to the ring. Casting Last Stand on myself meant that I needed to succeed or I’d lose my caster (for those unfamiliar: any model that attacks under Last Stand is destroyed at the end of the turn). Took a few swings with my puny weapon, but managed to finish her off.

My next game was against Andy’s Mercenaries, led by Drake MacBain. I took Zaal1 again. This time I got into a bad situation on attrition, but was able to use incorporeal to my benefit even in the face of MacBain’s ugly feat. Thanks to the Feat turn, the soul-loaded Kovass got the job done with assassination.

Following that, I faced Ryan’s Venethrax list. And the exact opposite of what won me the game against Andy happened. I got into the spot where I was ahead on attrition that he took a chance on assassination and managed to kill Zaal1.

Still more Zaal1, this one against Charles’ Circle Orboros army led by Grayle. This one was right down to the wire, but I managed to pull out the assassination victory. You know it’s bad when you’re counting on the Titan Cannoneer to hold one side against melee infantry.

Onward to the weekend, where I played… Zaal1 again. Heh. This time I faced off against Larry IV’s Circle army, led by Kaya3. He wasn’t ready for how destructive my Immortals can be with Last Stand, so it went my way pretty fast. I definitely want a re-match at some point when he knows my list a little better and has more experience with Kaya3.

Following that match, I faced Larry III’s Skorne force in a grand Skorne-off. He had Makeda2 and Xerxis1 as options, and I was reasonably certain he’d be bringing Makeda2. Because neither list I brought had an answer. I decided to drop Hexy2, which wasn’t a particularly good plan. It didn’t help that I came up short on what could have been a more aggressive play. He definitely had the upper hand in the game, and finally finished off Hexy2. While I’m okay with Zaal1, I definitely need a pairing for him that isn’t Hexy2.

Final game of this cycle, I broke down and put mostly unpainted Convergence of Cyriss onto the table. I have been trying to play as fully painted as possible, but in some discussions people said that I paint fast enough that I should just play what I want–and let my play drive my painting passion. So it was time for Lucant to strike out against foes.

I faced Ryan’s Venethrax list with some heavy modifications from the last time I clashed. I got on a bad start from the beginning as I didn’t have the ability to land things close enough to deny him points on the friendly flag. I was ahead in attrition, but time and score conspired to make me have to get too aggressive with Lucant. He rumbled up and did a great job against a sea of Warjacks (notching four total if my memory count is correct–two heavies and two bonejacks), but his urge to get up left him too easy prey for Venethrax who ended things with a charge of his own. I was honestly just glad to get a little table time with my Convergence. As I’m planning on doing some silly things with them going forward, and their induction system for Focus is a little wonky.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

155/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 34 (Win/Loss 25/9/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

8 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2, Makeda1 x2, Kaya3, Grayle, MacBain) / 2 Losses (Makeda2, Venethrax)

Convergence of Cyriss:

0 Wins / 1 Loss (Venethrax)

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)

Trollbloods:

4 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

The Empire Returns

Okay, so I’ve played Skorne for a long, long time. And despite always moving on, it seems that I always come back to it. This time it was two things. One, some friends getting fired up about doing a joint Skorne project together. And two, finding a painting scheme that I liked for my Immortals and Ancestral Guardians units. So it meant some change in what I’m painting (tho with Zaal1, I refined some of my purple painting and I’m relatively pleased there too). I also got a few games in with the Skorne to shake the rust off, and the new Errata has pleased me a great deal. It seems like around this time last year I was fooling around with Hexy1, so it was a nice thing to drop right back into him with added improvements. I also got Zaal1 painted up so I can start to give him a go (need one more unit of Immortals finished to run him, I’m thinking).

As always: first painting progress, then games.

I’m really liking the way these two show all the colors of my force at once. Yellow for magic/soul energy, purple armor, mixed brown-to-yellow robes with pale blue cording, and jade statues.

Hakaar the Destroyer. I like the model a ton, but I’m still somewhat meh on him without the right list (Zaal2 I’m guessing).

Three Ancestral Guardians. They’re great after the errata, as boosting Immortals’ speed is critical.

The Jade Immortals themselves. I really like the way they turned out.

On the gaming side, I managed to get in three games. All of them with Hexeris1, as I wanted to try out his changed-up abilities. I’m loving Parasite with Skorne, and the fact that he upkeeps one spell for free is a big deal in his spell-slinging ability. And as always, his feat was HUGE when it was huge, and terribad when used at the wrong time/against the wrong foe. Ah, good to see he hasn’t changed too much.

First game was versus Steve’s Retribution force. Against Dawnguard, Hexy1’s feat was great. Took out an entire unit with a single shot from a Cyclops Raider to start the chain. I’ll take it! Managed to swarm the shooting elements with Immortals, as Krea-boosted ARM 20 on the approach is tough to stop. That let Hexy1 get a Gun Bug into melee with the objective to win the match. Bonus shout-out to Steve for the great looking Chimera model.

Second game was against Michael’s lovely Cygnar force. He fielded Nemo3 in theme, while I took a bit more shooty of a package with Hexy1. Again, the Feat turn worked. Took out his whole unit of Stormblade Infantry, though it took a lot more of my models to keep the chain running. The game was still close, as his Warjacks were pressing hard on my weak side. I managed to get an opening to put Parasite on Nemo3 when he had no focus. Even though only two Bloodrunners actually got to him, their Death March MAT 9 charges with Gang were enough to finish him off. Great game, and now another player will not fall for Hexy1’s shenanigans again. That’s my main worry with him–once an opponent really knows, they can take more care with their clusters and spacing and minimize an already kinda-clunky Feat.

Third game was against Brad’s Skorne. Time for a Skorne-off! He fielded Zaadesh2. Honestly, I should have lost this game–so I’ll only credit luck on my part and food poisoning on Brad’s. He was way ahead on attrition, but Hexy1 managed to get to the objective himself and cap the game for the win solo-style. Swarm (from the Aradus Sentinel) is a great animus. The lesson of this game, tho, was that Hexy1 vs. Tough troops is bad, bad news. Not only do they tend to survive, but you cannot kill them after knocked down–as they cannot make the advance or swing if knocked down. Too many chances for an opponent to get lucky and stop the Feat train.

365 Points Challenge Progress (2017):

111/365

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2017: 26 (Win/Loss 20/6/0); 2016: 123 (Win/Loss: 74/49/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

3 Wins (Kaelyssa, Nemo3, Zaadesh2) / 0 Losses

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)

Trollbloods:

4 Wins (Gaspy1, Terminus, Barnabas, Gunnbjorn) / 1 Loss (Feora3)

Homebrew Campaign

My main gaming lately has been the homebrew campaign that I’m running at Drawbridge Games here in Pittsburgh, PA, which has taken on a life of its own. I’ve been fiddling with all sorts of factions as part of it, working with whichever sides need more assistance in getting onto the map. Thus, my painting over the last few weeks includes some for each of my armies. After that, I’ll talk about the games I’ve gotten in lately.

Dire Troll Mauler. Yeah, this guy is an absolute monster in Mark III. Had to add one to my force, and I really like how he turned out.

Lord Tyrant Hexeris. Really pleased with the model, even if his rules leave something to be desired.

Finally, I added a minimum unit of Flameguard Cleansers (forgot to take a pic on the gaming table, so one on the shelf will have to do). For some reason infantry take me soooooo long to paint.

On the gaming side, I got in a heap of games recently against a variety of different players and factions. I’ll dive right in:

Since my last update, I started with some Skorne. Having finished Hexeris1, I had the idea of a pairing with him to be anti-infantry and Morghoul1 as an armor-cracking/counter-punch list against heavy spam. My first game was against Kommander Harkevich and a whole heap of Khador warjacks, so Morghoul1 it was. His feat really helps Skorne heavies survive the initial attack, and then answer back. I got to the point where too much was able to get in on Harkevich (two void spirits and an Aradus), and managed the assassination.

My other game was against Asphyxious1, and there were enough troops that I took Hexy1 for a spin. He was… less than impressive. I’m not sure which types of troops are best for him and his feat. Satyxis Raiders proved to have too high a DEF value to hit each other in melee, making my feat turn quite lackluster. I got caught having to catch up, which meant an over-extended Hexy1 and an assassination against me.

Onward to some Trollbloods. I swapped to them mainly to balance out the sides in the campaign we’re up to, and started out with a Doomy2 loss to Andy’s Sturm and Drang. I played a lot of Doomy2 at the end of Mark II, so he was easy to plop on the table for a game to give it a go. My wall of heavies got close to sealing the deal, but I ended up losing after not quite getting an assassination. There was no way I was going to stay in the game when it came to scenario, so I had to make my move. My list needed a few more troops to really make it work.

I followed that game with a match using Borka, against Scott’s Deneghra1 and Cryx force. He’s a newer player who has gotten good ahead of the curve, but the classic “understood that Borka is hard to assassinate but didn’t realize just how hard” problem manifested itself, and Mulg was able to get into Denny and finish her off in the turn after she went for it against him. Borka may be my favorite of the Trollbloods casters, as I simply love his dare: “go ahead and try, I’m right out front”.

Had an old friend, Charles, who used to play Warmachine and Hordes reach out and say that he was returning to the game and wanted to get a match in–so I jumped at the chance. Faced off against his Grayle list with my Jarl force. Mauler smash-and-grab was the name of the game, managing to cripple his Satyr and knock down Grayle with the throw. Thanks to Fury issues, and some lucky misses, the Mauler survived the retribution. Snacking down a few whelps, he then rocked into Grayle and finished him off. Was a great game, and Charles’ stuff is beautifully painted so always a joy to face.

I’ve been bugging my buddy Ryan to finish up his Deneghra3 model ever since it took flight when he was bringing it on a windy day last year (the wind legit lifted the model off the top of his case and crashed it to the street, breaking it). He finally finished her up, so we nabbed a couple of matches as I was keen to face her. The first game I took my Protectorate and Amon Ad-Raza. Scenario was the Pit, so it was somewhat of a dead letter due to positioning. I almost got her assassinated, but came up just short. Having to trample to get there rather than charge hurts, and Amon’s feat still doesn’t fill up warjacks particularly well. Ryan managed to get a functional warjack onto Amon thanks to Ghost Walk, and that was a game.

The second game I fielded Feora2, as I wanted to have my painted Flameguard Cleansers on the table. I managed a win over Deneghra3 this time, in large part because lighting my own jack wall on fire with Cleansers then swapping it over to key enemy models is just awesome. The kill came down to the continuous fire. Always my favorite type of assassination… wait, no it’s AWFUL to win that way. Shouldn’t go in if I need to get lucky to finish the job. Great game as always with Ryan, and it was fun to see Denny3 hit the table.

500 Points Challenge Progress (2016):

445/500

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2016: 113 (Win/Loss: 68/45/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Protectorate of Menoth:

23 Wins (Agathia x3, Tanith x2, Helynna, Lord Carver, Terminus, Beth Maddox x3, Ragnor x2, Sorscha, Stryker2, Rask, Xerxis, Butcher, Sorscha2, Haley, Aiakos, Reznik, Deneghra3) / 10 Losses (Agathia x2, Haley, Terminus x2, Kaya2, Rhyas, Amon, Tanith, Deneghra3)

Trollbloods:

15 Wins (Karchev x3, Vayl2 x3, Lylyth x2, Kaya, Skarre, Thagrosh, Asphyxious3, Venethrax, Deneghra, Grayle) / 12 Losses (Adeptis Rahn, Kromac, Caine2, Borka2, Kaya, Rhyas, Ashlynn x2, Twins Saeryn and Rhyas, Butcher3, Thagrosh, Vayl2, Sturm and Drang)

Skorne:

25 Wins (Butcher x2, Deneghra, Shae, Sorscha2, Feora2, Severius, Skarre x2, Kreoss2, Borka, Kaya2, Stryker x2, Ragnor x2, Agathia, Malekus, Durgen, Kozlov, Bart, Terminus x2, Tanith, Kallus, Harkovich)/ 19 Losses (Rask, Xerxis, Butcher3, Thagrosh, Zerkova2, Stryker x2, Magnus2, Terminus x2, Tanith, Vlad x2, Rahn, Arkadius, Deneghra, Gorten, Asphyxious)

Cryx:

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

Scream-Roller and Open Warfare

Another blog post for another few weeks of gaming madness. This time, it’s a Halloween event, some painting for one faction, and even a few games played with my other two factions.

First up, I ran the first of what I hope becomes a regular fall thing: a Scream-Roller tournament at Legions Games. You can see the close up of all the Jack-O’-Lantern objective markers I painted up for the event above. I also made key trophies for the winners and arranged for some “scary” door prizes (a Wraith Engine and some “Beware of Nerfs” Bane Warriors). You can read more about this event on Bell of Lost Souls, and the prizes and winners are below.

The Prize Collection. Players got to keep their pumpkin objective markers if they wanted.

Front Row (L-R): Nicholas Caruso (3rd Place, Legion – Lylyth3/Abby2), Paladin Larry (1st Place, Cryx – Coven/Scaverous), Andy Thompson (2nd Place, Khador – Strakhov/Harkevich). Back Row (L-R) Door Prize Winners: Mike M. and Justin Shannon.

I made a bit of progress on the painting side, in addition to painting all of those Pumpkins (which took a fair amount of my painting time this month).

I painted up a second Wrack and a Vassal of Menoth, ready to help Amon Ad-Raza scourge all non-believers.

On the gaming side, we’re starting a new narrative campaign at Drawbridge Games, which you can read all about here: Dragons at the Drawbridge. I wanted to get some experience with Madrak2 before the big January errata, so I began the campaign with my Trollbloods. However, seeing a player working to make Skorne effective made me miss my true love faction a lot, so I swapped to Skorne in the second week and will likely continue them forward for a while. The announcement that the designers at Privateer Press recognize that the faction isn’t working as intended is a really welcome one, which has gotten me excited about getting play in with them now to be ready for when changes come in January.

My first game fielded Madrak2 into Ryan’s Cryx, facing off against Venethrax. Madrak2 did exactly as he does, and chewed through all the infantry (even though they were undead) in a single glorious Pacman-style turn. Then I simply jockeyed for scenario victory and counted on his quite-powerful survival rules to keep him alive.

My next game was against Colton’s Khador list with Karchev, which was definitely warjack heavy–so I swapped to Jarl Skuld for that game. It was a well-fought clash, again with my victory coming from scenario. I managed to survive the tide of warjacks by trading 2 for 1 (the Mauler’s buff really helps). It would have helped to have feated one turn earlier, but I still managed to get the win.

Week two my Skorne appeared to help carry victory to the empire. Though my first battle didn’t help. I’ve been fiddling with a Void Seer Mordikaar shooting list (counting on the spell that gives the entire battlegroup ghostly to free ranged warbeasts to slip back without free strikes and shoot again). It didnt’ fare particularly well in its first outing, however, and I lost to Ryan’s War Witch Deneghra. I was just going in on Denny with essence blast assassination when time ran out. It was a desperation move anyhow, as the list was absolutely unable to cope with the amount of infantry that he fielded. Back to the drawing board!

And to a different Warlock: Master Tormentor Morghoul. I played a very brutal game against Andy’s Legion of Everblight with Kallus at the helm. I manged to get a win with my force largely thanks to Morghoul’s buffs and feat: denial of transfers and the ability to throw a Bronzeback way further than one things due to Rush + Abuse managed to net me an assassination.

My third Skorne game this week was Lord Assassin Morghoul2 against Enrico’s Rhulic Mercenaries with Gorten at the helm. I went for the cannonball special assassination as I was getting boxed out on scenario and it was my only hope. Gorten was on no Focus, so it would have totally succeeded. If the throw hadn’t deviated Morghoul2 directly back toward the throwing Bronzeback just enough that I was an inch short of being able to reach Gorten and Flashing Blade him to death. The best I could do was scamper to a safe-ish spot, which proved not so safe as Morghoul2 was assassinated in the following round.

500 Points Challenge Progress (2016):

418/500

Battles (Privateer Press):

Overall Totals 2016: 106 (Win/Loss: 64/42/0); 2015: 43 (Win/Loss: 29/14/0)

Skorne:

24 Wins (Butcher x2, Deneghra, Shae, Sorscha2, Feora2, Severius, Skarre x2, Kreoss2, Borka, Kaya2, Stryker x2, Ragnor x2, Agathia, Malekus, Durgen, Kozlov, Bart, Terminus x2, Tanith, Kallus)/ 18 Losses (Rask, Xerxis, Butcher3, Thagrosh, Zerkova2, Stryker x2, Magnus2, Terminus x2, Tanith, Vlad x2, Rahn, Arkadius, Deneghra, Gorten)

Protectorate of Menoth:

22 Wins (Agathia x3, Tanith x2, Helynna, Lord Carver, Terminus, Beth Maddox x3, Ragnor x2, Sorscha, Stryker2, Rask, Xerxis, Butcher, Sorscha2, Haley, Aiakos, Reznik) / 9 Losses (Agathia x2, Haley, Terminus x2, Kaya2, Rhyas, Amon, Tanith)

Trollbloods:

13 Wins (Karchev x3, Vayl2 x3, Lylyth x2, Kaya, Skarre, Thagrosh, Asphyxious3, Venethrax) / 11 Losses (Adeptis Rahn, Kromac, Caine2, Borka2, Kaya, Rhyas, Ashlynn x2, Twins Saeryn and Rhyas, Butcher3, Thagrosh, Vayl2)

Cryx:

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

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