Cygnar vs Khador (Kara Sloan vs Harkevich) 50pts - Battle Report

We decided to play a 50pts game with a scenario we have never played before - Diversion. You need to control the flag/objective to your right, and have a unit controlling the zone in the opponents deployment zone. First player to reach 2 points win... or caster kill. We played with a 54min Deathclock.

Once again I decided to try out my Kara Sloan list with some minor changes, while my opponent went for Harkevich and a few other of his newer units/solos. This we're the lists.

Captain Kara Sloan (*6pts)
* Avenger (9pts)
* Cyclone (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
* Captain Jonas Murdoch (2pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Trencher Master Gunner (2pts)
Points: 50/50

Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf (*5pts)
* Black Ivan (10pts)
* Conquest (19pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Koldun Lord (2pts)
Yuri the Axe (3pts)
Points: 50/50

Setup

Khador won to roll and choose deploy second. My plan was to move up my jacks in the middle to be able to both prevent him from reaching his objective, and perhaps clear the path to my. Boomhowlers deployed towards my left to be able to quickly run and act like a tar pit. B13 got the mission to grab my own objective as soon as possible and perhaps kill a few solos on their way.

Khador setup with the Conquest in the middle. The Black Dragon pikemen were deployed to contest my objective, while Harkevich and Black Ivan was going to claim his objective.

Cygnar - Turn 1

Run phase. Each Jack got a focus. Kara Sloan cast "Refuge" on herself and up kept it on herself the rest of the game so I won't point that out. Every unit ran or advanced into position. Black 13th hid behind the ruins along with Kara, Reinholdt, Squire and Gorman.

Khador - Turn 1

Khadors run phase. Harkevich cast "Fortune" and "Escort" before he advanced into the forest. Pikemen ran forward and used their mini-feat "Iron Zeal" for +4 ARM and immune to knockdowns. Greylords advanced and cast Blizzard on the pikemen and Eyriss. Conquest shot at the Boomhowlers and caused a wound, be I made the tough roll (a thing I won't be doing a lot of).

Cygnar - Turn 2

Kara got her rifle reloaded by Reinholdt and she advanced and killed a pikeman. Boomhowlers advanced towards the enemy objective and Jonas used "go-to-ground" to give the cover and immune to blast damage. The Hunter shot at Black Ivan causing 10 wounds. Ryan from the B13 tried to put a magestorm on the pikemen but missed, the deviation hit and killed Eyriss instead. The Avengers missed his shot even though the Master Gunner helped him. The Cyclone ended my turn by putting down 2 covering fire in front of my jacks.

Khador - Turn 2

The Battle Mechanics started with repairing 4 wounds of Black Ivan. Harkevich advanced, shot a Boomie, and used his feat. Yuri charged the Boomhowlers and killed 2 of them. Conquest then charged the Boomhowlers and killed another 2. Black Ivan made a failed charge. Pikemen advanced in shield wall formation, and the Greylords and Koldun Lord gave them all a Blizzard for cover.

Cygnar - Turn 3

Reinholdt once again reloaded Karas rifle before she activated and used her feat. Kara, Avenger, Cyclone and B13 all shot at the pikemen and killed all but three of them. Boomhowlers charged both the Conquest, Yuri the Axe and Black Ivan with the assault order, the Boomies did however miss Black Ivan which made him "dodge" out of combat, but at least they killed Yuri. ATGM and the Hunter took some shots at the Conquest and did a few wounds to it.

Khador - Turn 3

Harkevich up kept both "Fortune" and "Escort", and he gave 3 focus to the Conquest and one to Black Ivan. Then Harkevich charged and killed Greygore of the Boomhowlers. Black Ivan also charged and killed a troll. The Conquest advanced into combat with the gunmages but only managed to kill a single one. Greylords advanced and cast "Ice Cage" on the Cyclone, and "Frost Bite" on the gunmages (but missed). Pikemen charged the Cyclone and caused 9 wounds to it. Battle Mechanics advanced and tried to repair Black Ivan some more but only managed to remove 1 wound from it.

Cygnar - Turn 4

Kara advanced and killed a Greylord. Avenger advanced into combat and killed a pikeman, and the last pikeman was killed by the Cyclone. ATGM tried to disengage from the Conquest but two were killed. Gorman sneaked up on the Conquest a threw "Black Oil" on it. The Boomhowlers killed a Battle Mechanic and did a few more wounds to Black Ivan. Black 13th killed the remaining Greylords and Kuldon Lord. The Hunter shot with "Critical Brutal" at the Conquest and got a critical. With a boost (from the Marshall) I rolled 4 dices and got 6-6-6-4, doing a ton of damage on it.

Khador - Turn 4

Harkevich and Black Ivan killed 3 Boomhowlers. Battle Mechanics and Sylys moved up to screen Harkevich a bit. Conquest forfeited its movement to shoot, and it killed Gorman and 2 gunmages.

Cygnar - Turn 5

It took the Avenger, Black 13th and the Hunter to remove the screening Sylys and Battle Mechanic. Cyclone tried to put some more dents into Conquest, it caused about 6 more wounds. Kara moved up to take a shot at Harkevich but an unlucky roll made me miss (rolled 1 less than I needed to), and because I missed I couldn't use "Refuge" to get out of the way and had already activated all the units that I could have used to screen her with... *sigh*

Khador - Turn 5

Conquest got 3 focus and Black Ivan got 1. Black Ivan tried to disengage from the last Boomhowler but the free strike landed and I rolled triple-sixes for damage, crippling his legs and making him end his activation. Harkevich did the same thing, but I missed the free strike. Harkevich then boosted his with his hand cannon, but only caused a single wound on Kara.

It was up to the Conquest to get things done, with MAT 6 he needed a 10 to hit Kara. So he advanced the Conquest into reach range of Kara, boosted the hit and got 5-3-2 and caused 15 wounds (boosted roll) to Kara, leaving her standing with a single wound. He also boosted his next hit and got 4-5-1. Kara was nothing but a wet stain on the ground. Victory to Harkevich and Khador!

Conclusion

As always I need to become better at protecting my caster. If I start with Kara I should have some units left to back her up in case she misses with her rifle. I do think I prefer to play with the Cyclone instead of the Defender, I feel it brings a lot more utility with the covering fires.

I also should have moved Gorman closer to the Conquest. With the help of "Rust Bomb" and Kara's feat I should have been able to destroy, or at least cripple, the Conquest on a single turn. 

Cygnar vs Cryx (Kara Sloan vs pDenny) 35pts - Battle Report

Long time since I played against Cryx. I've faced the Banes a long time ago and did okay against them. I knew I needed something to deal with stealth and I was thinking of picking a Siege list, but I've been playing a lot of Kara and wanted to give her a try against the undead. And to deal with stealth I had both Gun Mages and the Black 13th.

Captain Kara Sloan (*6pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Points: 35/35

Warwitch Deneghra (*5pts)
* Deathripper (4pts)
* Deathjack (12pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Bane Thrall Officer & Standard (3pts)
Bane Lord Tartarus (4pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)
Points: 35/35

Setup

The scenario we're playing is "Incursion" - a random objective is removed after the second players first turn, and you need 2 points to win the game.

I won the roll and decided to setup first. Boomies in the middle and ATGM and B13 on each flank. Kara had her eyes on the forest (the green plastic stuff) along with the Hunter.

Cryx deployed with the Banes in the middle and a Warwitch on each flank. Death Jack used his advance deployment to start close to the objectives.

Cygnar Turn 1

Everything ran as fast as possible up the board. Kara Sloan cast Refuge on herself. The Hunter got of a sniped bullet at the Death Jack and caused 4 wounds on it.

Cryx - Turn 1

Cryx also ran with basically with everything. The Skarlock gave the Banes "Gosthly", and the Death Jack made a small advance.

We rolled to see which objective would disappear, and the one on the right flank was removed.

Cygnar - Turn 2

Reinholdt reloaded Kara Sloans rifle and Arlan gave a focus to the Defender. Then Kara activated, used her feat, and shot at Death Jack and did 14(!) wounds with one boosted shot. With the help of the Defender, Hunter and ATGM the Death Jack didn't last long. Boomhowlers advanced to claim/contest the objectives, and prepared themselves for the charge from the Banes. B13 shot a Magestorm at the Pistol Wraith but rolled snake-eyes on the damage.

Cryx - Turn 2

Deneghra activade, moved up and used her feat (which affected the Boomies, Defender and Lynch from the B13). Then Lord Tartus and his Banes charged the Boomhowlers, killing 3 and almost Greygore, but he made the tough check. The Warwitch on the left charged the B13 and killed Ryan, the other Warwitch fell 1" short on her charge.

Cygnar - Turn 3

Reinhold once again reloaded Karas rifle. The Defender killed a Bane with his cannon. Kara cast "Firegroup" to get 2" more range on her rifle, and she forfeited her movement to gain Arcane Precision and she was just in range to shoot Deneghra. With 2 boosted shots I caused 10 wounds (4d6-7) on a caster with 6 Focus.

Watt from B13 tried to disengage from the Warwitch but was killed with a free strike. Two ATGM tried to shot the other Warwitch but failed to cause enough wounds, the rest shot at the Banes killing the officer. Boomies engaged the Banes and manged to kill two.

Cryx - Turn 3

Deneghra stayed in the forest and sent her bonejack forward. Lord Tartus, Banes and Warwitch did everything they could to kill the Trolls but I only failed 1 tough roll. The Warwitch on the right flank cast "Venom" but only killed one gunmage and wounded the Hunter.

Cygnar - Turn 4

Reinhold reloaded the rifle and Kara activated, moved up and shot the bonejack causing 6 wounds. Arlan gave the Defender a focus, and the Defender caused another 10 wounds to the bonejack, killing it. ATGM didn't manage to do any damage against the Warwitch, the rest of the Gunmages shot and killed the Skarlock. Boomies killed a few more Banes.

Cryx - Turn 4

Lord Tartus and Banes started the turn with killing all of the Boomhowlers, but one. He saw that he could move in and claim both objectives and score 2 points without problem so I surrendered.

Conclusion

I think my Siege list would have been a better choice, but I really did want to try Kara against Cryx. My biggest mistake was to underestimate the threat range of the Warwitches (SPD 7 with reach). I lost the B13 without doing anything with them. Could really have used a magestorm to block a charge lane against my Boomhowlers.

Even though I almost made all of my tough rolls, and a big number on Death Jack, I had a hard time to do anything else. And with the scenario it was not easy for Kara to try and hunt for Deneghra who just stayed in the back the entire game. I'll probably remove both Arlan and the Defender in my next game. I want to try out Jonas Murdoch and maybe the Avenger or Cyclone with Kara.

How to deal with the Iron Fang Pikemen with Cygnar

I've been playing a lot against Khador (like 80-90% of my last games) lately. My win ratio is about 50-50. However, I always want to improve my self and my army. My biggest issue for me is how to deal with the Black Dragon Pikemen. Who are they, what do they do and how do I stop them?

The Iron Fang Pikemen (or IFP for short) is the elite of Khador infantry with good stats for a good price. DEF 13 and ARM 14 can easily be improved with the help of "Iron Flesh" and "Shield Wall" order bringing them up to respected DEF 16 and ARM 18. For offence they have "Reach", "Combined Melee Attack" and "Critical: Knock Down". They're P+S 13 so they can even put a hurt into high ARM targets withou breaking a sweat.

With the addition of the Black Dragon Unit Attachment they get "Precision Strike", which will really devestate just about any jack they end up fighting. The officer is CMD 10 which makes in almost impossible for them to fail a command check, and they can spread out their formation to cover a large area. Finally they also get a "mini-feat" named Iron Zeal - which gives the unit +4 ARM and immune to knock down and stationary for a turn. This can allow them to make a run with ARM 18, or put them at ARM 22 for a turn in shield wall formation. A tough nut to crack.

To be honest, these guys have always been a problem for me, and if I can't get the alpha strike on them they'll likely to ruin my game. So how do you deal with them? Below are some usfull tricks and tactics that the forums have given me.

 - Covering Fire. Block their charge lane with POW 12. This will force them to use "Iron Zeal" if they still want to try and make a charge. With decent dice rolls even ARM 18 should fall to this.

- Mage Storm. Same tactic as above. A neat trick is to drop a Stormpod and use the Mage Storm to really get it to land where you want to.

- Trencher Commandos WA with "Deadeye". Scatterguns are POW 12 and with SP 8 have good odds on killing atleast a few of them.

- pStryker or Avenger. Big AoE knock down. Another way to force them to use Iron Zeal or to prevent them from getting the alpha strike.

- ATGM with Deadeye. With some skillful placement you can knock them back and out of Shield Wall formation.

- Harlan Versh ignores "Iron Flesh" and gets boosted attack and damage rolls against them.

- eEyriss can remove upkeep spells.

- Electro Leaps. Use a Storm pod or something that's immune to lightning damage. Get those leaps to bounce in the back arcs of the IFP.

Quick Battle Reports with Kara Sloan

Today I got to play a few games with two of my friends. The plan was to play a mini-tournament with character restrictions, 15-25-35 points each with a different caster. We started with the 15pts and then we skipped the 25 in favor of the more "serious" 35 points... and we didn't really have time to play that many games.

In my 15 points army I played with eStryker a Lancer and a Centurion. I won against Khador and pButcher with assassination. And I lost against Circle when eKreuger used telekenisis to move my Centurion and give him a clear charge lane with his Stalker against Stryker.

The 35pts was of course a bit more interesting. I didn't take any pictures so bare with me.These are the list we were playing with.

Points: 35/35
Captain Kara Sloan (*6pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Points: 35/35
Kommandant Irusk (*6pts)
* Conquest (19pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)

Points: 35/35
Kromac the Ravenous (*4pts)
* Gorax (4pts)
* Ghetorix (11pts)
* Warpwolf Stalker (10pts)
Shifting Stones (2pts)
* Stone keeper (1pts)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (1pts)
Tharn Bloodtrackers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Nuala the Huntress (2pts)

Game 1 - Cygnar vs Circle

I started with running up with every unit. Boomhowlers in the middle and AGTM on my left flank and B13 on the right. Circle advanced with everything. Bloodtrackers got first blood on a troll who failed his tough roll.

On my second turn I used Kara for her feat. I managed to kill both the Gethorix, Gorax and half of the Bloodtracker in one turn. However, I forgot to move Reinholdt and my Squire leaving Kara out in the open. Circle saw their chance and Kromac cleared the entire unit of ATGM so that his Stalker could "Warpath" into a clear charge lane. Some (un)lucky dice rolls left Kara with 2 wounds left.

On my third turn I disengaged with Kara from the Stalker, who missed his free strike, and with 2 boosted shots I killed Kromac.

Game 2 - Cygnar vs Khador

I won the roll and started the game with running up the Boomhowlers into the Moshpit (scenario). Both the Hunter and Defender did decent damage on the Conquest right of the bat. Khador ran up with their pikemen to challenge the Boomhowlers. Mechanics repaired all(!) the damage on the Conquest. Widowmakers and Eyriss moved into the forest on my right and Conquest charged, with help of "Superiority" and almost killed my Hunter (it was left with 2 boxes of cortex).

On my second turn I moved Kara from the left flank towards the right. I also managed to kill Eyriss with a boosted shot. Boomhowlers charged into combat but didn't hit with a single attack (Iron Fleshed Pikemens are really something). B13 killed 2 Widowmakers. ATGM moved from the left (where the Conquest was standing) into the middle of the board.  Khador started the turn with moving up Irusk and using his feat. Pikemen killed half of the Boomhowlers. Conquest finished the Hunter and killed a troll.

On my third turn Kara was just in range of Irusk, so I shot him with 2 boosted shots and killed him.

Game 3 - Circle vs Khador

Circle started with Bloodtrackers taking prey on the pikemen and running towards them. Gethorix moved into the forest on his left and Kromac and the remaining beasts advanced in the smoke of the gobbers. Khador ran up with the pikemen and used "Iron Zeal" to survive the oncoming barrage of spears coming their way. Conquest advanced to meet up with Gethorix.

Circles second turn started with the Bloodtrackers killing of 4 pikemen and helping Gethorix into combat with Eyriss, thanks to Warpath. Gethorix also killed her without effort. Kromac, Gorax and Stalker all advanced once again in the smoke of the gobbers. Khador tried a charge towards Kromac, but without line of sight to him they could only kill the Gobbers and "lock" Kromac and the Bloodtrackers in melee. Conquest didn't recive any focus and missed with all of his range attacks. Irusk used his feat this turn.

Circles Gethorix got frenzy (was out of Kromacs control) and killed a mechanic. The Stalker, Kromac and the Bloodtrackers managed to kill every pikemen this turn, but Kromac was forced to feat for it to happen. Gorax engaged the Widowmakers in melee but couldn't kill them thanks to tough. Circle also scored a point for controlling one objective (scenario: Incursion). Khadors Conquest charged Gethorix and killed him in 3 hits. Mechanics ran towards the Bloodtrackers and Stalker to block the charge lanes. Irusk cast Iron Flesh on himself and ran behind the Conquest for cover.

Circles Bloodtrackers took prey on Irusk and ran after him. Gorax killed a Widowmaker and the Stalker killed all but one Mechanic with the help of berserk/warpath. And Kromac was just about to kill the last Mechanic when time ran out and dice-down was called. As Circle was the only one to score a point they won according to the tie-breaker rules.

Conclusion

I really like Kara Sloan. I've been reading quite a lot of battle reports and tactics with her, and I'm starting to understand how to play her. Still I made some grave mistakes that could have cost me the game. I always forget the "Warpath" spell that Kromac can cast. I still want to make some minor changes in my list, and perhaps expand it to 50 points.

As for the Boomhowler I really love to have a unit I can run up the board and "sacrifice". I'm still looking on Alexia and thinking about getting her as well, but I don't know if I really need her at the moment. As always improvements can be made.

MacBain

So I'm still planning on expanding my Cygnar force with the help of a "few" mercenaries. But the approach of the Galleon got me thinking if it would be possible to build a small Mercenary Army with the help of the Cygnar/Mercs I already own. And then we have the Galleon, the most awesome looking Colossal to date, that I just must have. 

One of the merc armys you can build is the Highborn Covenant which lets you use either the ATGM or the Longgunners (both with their UA) in the army. With the ATGM you can also marshall a merc jack for some fun/odd combos. Of all the casters that merc bring, there's only one that got my attention - Drake MacBain. The name and mustasch alone makes him worth while. 

I'm thinking I can play with something along this list without spending too much money. 

Drake MacBain (*6pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Mule (8pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Points: 35/35

Legion vs Khador (Saeryn vs pIrusk) 35pts - Battle Report

I felt like doing a battle report when two of my friends fought each other this time. I've been playing against nothing but Khador and Legion lately, so it's a nice change of pace to write about something else. Viktor (playing Khador) have been playing the game as long as me, but pIrusk is one of his latest casters and he haven't played against that many other opponents than me. Niklas (playing Legion) only just started the game and haven't figured out all the rules and possibilities... yet.

The lists they are playing tonight are:

Kommandant Irusk (*6pts)
* Behemoth (13pts) (using Black Ivan for proxy this game)
* Spriggan (10pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)
Points: 35
Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (*5pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Ravagore (10pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician (3pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Points: 35



Setup

The scenario is the "classic" Close Quarter. Legion won the roll and wanted to go first. They both made a pretty basic setup. The majority of their forces in the middle. Advance deployment went for the covers and forest.

Turn 1

Legion went first and ran up with everything. Saeryn cast Respawn in lack of anything better.

Khador advanced with everything. Behemot tried to hit the Ravagore with his cannons but was 1" short and both shots deviated too far to do anything. Irusk cast Superiority on Behemoth.

Legion - Turn 2

Carnivean and Scythean moved about 1" each. Ravagore shot at the pikemen but missed, the deviation made the effect land in front of them, blocking a potential charge lane. Saeryn recast Respawn on the Carnivean. Striders moved out of the forest, made a CRA against Kell Bailoch and killed him before they reformed back into the forest.

Khador - Turn 2

pIrusk upkept Superiority and gave Behemoth 3 focus. Behemoth shot at the Ravagore and made a direct hit, for damage he rolled three ones(!). Pikemen and Spriggan moved up a bit getting ready to soak up the coming charge. Irusk cast Airburst at the Striders but only managed to kill one. He then used his feat. Widowmaker Marksmen moved away from the cover. Eyriss took a shot at the Carnivean and removed "Respawn"

Legion - Turn 3

Scythean charged the Spriggan and crippled the Cortex but nothing else. Ravagore shot at the pikemen but missed. However the deviation reached Irusk and a crazy dice roll ended up causing 11 wounds(!) to Irusk. Carnivean charged the pikemen and with Assault his spray also reached Irusk, leaving him with 1 wound left on the Warcaster. Finally the Strides moved up and made an easy kill with a Combined Ranged Attack to finish off Irusk for good.

Conclusion

Insane dice rolls this game. Behemoth only doing 3 damage on 3 dices, and then Ravagore does 11 damage on a POW 8 attack to Irusk. The big problem was that Khador got out shot, and couldn't close the gap and still get the charge. Everything depended on the dice rolls this game, and Legion didn't fail any major dice roll.

I understand why Cygnars best choice of caster against Legion is Seige... but I'm not a huge fan of the Major. Hopefully I can field a fun and effective list with Kara Sloan.

Boom, boom, boom!

So I'm ready to expand my army with my first mercenary unit - The Boomhowlers & Co

It's a pretty basic unit stat wise, but enough STR, MAT and ARM to get around. They have pretty low RAT with their POW 12 Blundebusses, but it'll be enough for shooting at heavys. Their axes also have nice POW but without reach I won't be using that many CRM attacks with them. And as always the trolls have tough.

But what makes this unit really shine is their leader, Greygore Boomhowler himself. During his activation, and this is possible to do even if they're running, he can make a "Fell Howl" with one of these effects;

Rage Howler - They force a command check on a enemy unit, or give a Warbeast/Warjack -2 to melee attack rolls. This also effects friendly Warjacks.
Call to Action - The entire unit gets to stand up. Perfect if you made a lot of tough checks.
Call of Defiamce - The bread and butter of this unit. Grant the unit to tough check on 4-5-6. 50% of the time this unit will survive just about anything the enemy throws at them.

This will be the perfect tar-pit unit for me as I only have Stormblades and ATGM at the moment and no way to really tie up units in melee. Another thing that I love about this unit is the synergy they get with my ranking officer - Jonas Murdoch. Not only is he tough and can give cover to the whole unit, he also brings the Assult Order.

Cygnar vs Legion (Siege vs Saeryn) 35pts - Battle Report

First "real" game for my friend who picked up Legion a few days ago. He is new to the game so he still has to figure out some of the rules, and lot of the tactics. This battle report is just a friendly game where I tried to help him as much as possible without telling him what to do and when to do it. The lists we're playing are;

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Hunter (6pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard (3pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Points: 35/35

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight (*5pts)
* Carnivean (11pts)
* Scythean (9pts)
Blighted Nyss Striders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician (3pts)
Blighted Ogrun Warspears (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Blighted Nyss Shepherd (1pts)
Strider Deathstalker (2pts)
Points: 35/35

Setup

We're playin the "Close Quarter" scenario from the Steamroll 2012 list. Legion won the roll and chose to start. His setup was pretty basic. Big guys in the middle, advance deploy with his Striders near the forest.

I chose to counter his stealthy Striders with both my ATGM and Siege. The Stormblades got the job of keeping him away from the control zone, and B13 got the flanking mission as always.

Legion - Turn 1

Warspears, Scythean and the Warlock ran towards the wall on the flank. The Striders ran into the forest for some extra cover. Carnivean and the Shepard made a full advance.

Cygnar - Turn 1

Siege kept all focus for himself. Gunmages advanced and used the wall for cover. Stormblades ran forward. B13 advanced along the flank and dropped a Mage Storm which deviated a bit. The Hunter advanced and took a shot at the Carnivean causing about 6 wounds.

Siege tried a Ground Pounder on the Striders but missed the all, so he ended his activation with a Foxhole on himself.

Legion - Turn 2

Warspears and Scythean advanced over the wall, Saeryn stayed behind. Carnivean advanced and the Shepard healed it for 1D3 damage. The Striders came out of the forest and shot the Hunter with a Combined Ranged Attack causing 10 wound, but they didn't cripple any systems, then they Reformed back into the forest.

Cygnar - Turn 2

Siege gives 1 focus to the Defender and keeps the rest. Reinholdt reloads Siege gun. Both Siege and Defender shoots at the Scythean causing a ton of damage (crippling both body and spirit). The Hunter takes another shot at the Carnivaen causing a few more wounds, but nothing serious.

ATGM shoots Arcane Inferno at the Strider Deathstalker and also kills two grunts in the process. B13 takes a few more shots at the Scythean bringing it closer to its death. Stormblades assult the Warspears, killing one and causing another 7 wounds to another.

Legion - Turn 3

Saeryn starts with casting Respawn on the Scythean and the pops her feat. Scythean charges the Stormblades and kills 4 of them. The Warspears follow up and kill another 2, but I pass the command check. The Carnivean advanced towards the Hunter and sprays it for a lot of damage (the Strider later kills it with a CRA), but he fails to hit Siege, Squire and the Defender.

Cygnar - Turn 3

Siege gives 1 focus to the Defender and keeps the rest. Reinholdt once again reloads Siege gun for more damage output. Then I activate Siege and use his feat. Siege kills the Carnivean with 2 boosted shots. The Defender kills the Shepard behind it.

B13 kills all the Warspears with Brutal Shots. The remaining Stormblades is locked in combat with the Scythean but can't kill it due to Saeryns feat. ATGM moves over the wall and shoot the Striders killing 3.

Legion - Turn 4

Scythean tramples the two Stormblades to death. Saeryn remains behind the wall. Striders tries to shoot at the ATGM but misses. And then there's not much to do but to forfeit the game.

Conclusion

Last time I played Legion it was with this Siege list, but I faced a eLylith list with the Naga Nightlurker and 2 Ravagores. I couldn't do much. And I was kinda expecting something similar this time as I have no real experience against Legion. But this time I simply had a better list than him as I could pretty much cut down anything before he could come into melee range with me.

For me it was more about giving Siege another go and learn a bit more about the Cygnar gun-line. But I think my Legion playing friend got a lot to think about regarding how his units works, and the tactics behind playing Legion. I can bet that the next time I won't have such a "easy" win.

A new caster has enterd the ring

 



I needed some more sand/grain for my bases, so I made a small order today... and somehow Kara Sloan ended up in my basket. So a forth caster will join my ranks. My reasons for picking up Kara is that she offers a really different playstyle from Stryker and Siege, and she's really underplayed among the Cygnar community. Some people even claim she's the worst caster of them all.

I might try some low point list with perhaps a Defender/Cyclone, Hunter and/or Avenger and a lot of shooting infantry units, tho I still lack Long Gunners. This is the first list that comes to mind;

Captain Kara Sloan (*6pts)
* Hunter (6pts)
* Defender (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Cyclone (9pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Overload for the win



This week I've played two 35pts games with Lord Commander Stryker (aka eStryker) against Khador, as always. And I think I found list that I want to keep on using in the future against my upcoming opponents. The list looks something like this.

Lord Commander Stryker (*6pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard (3pts)
* 3 Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner (3pts)
Archduke Alain Runewood (3pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Journeyman Warcaster (3pts)
Points: 35/35

The list is pretty much centered around getting the assassination run with Stryker himself. I'm planning on playing with two of Cygnars best Warjacks - Ol' Rowdy & Stormclad. But work really well with eStryker who wants to keep most of the focus for himself when it's time for the "run". Casting Positive Charge on the Stormclad will really much wreck anything it can charge. Ol' Rowdy will help Stryker with his affinty.

The Stormblades will act as the backbone of my list. They can help with the Stormclad (giving it free focus), and both the Journeyman Warcaster and Runewood will help them getting into combat. Eyriss is always nice to have in a assassination army. She can really help against those pesky focus-campers, and she is aslo very good at getting rid of enemy spells.

I feel this list can handle almost anything my opponent throws my way. With eStryker I can pretty much sacrifice my entire army as long as it lets me get into melee with their caster.

First time with Army Painter Quick Shade

Centurion

Hammersmith

Been painting my Warjacks over the last 2 days. I ordered some Quick Shade paints from Armypainter which really made things easy. On the Warjack above I've only used 3 different colors - Blue, Metal and Bronze. After that it's just a single layer of "Strong tone" quick shade. I haven't even highlighted or used any anti-shine as I really like this "dirty" look the model got.

I'm currently painting up my casters, eStryker and Siege. There's a bit more work to do with a single model in comparison to a Warjack. I'll post some pictures as soon as I'm done.

Cygnar vs Khador (eStryker vs pIrusk) 35pts

Okey, I know I've promised to play and write a battle report against something other than Khador. But our big order from NA hasn't arrived yet. But at least we're both playing "new" casters this time around. Let's just jump to the list we are playing tonight.

Lord Commander Stryker (*6pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Stormclad (10pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4pts)
Stormblade Infantry (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard (3pts)
* 3 Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner (3pts)
Journeyman Warcaster (3pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Points: 35/35

Kommandant Irusk (*6pts)
* Conquest (19pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Harlan Versh (2pts)
Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)
Points: 35/35

Setup

I won the roll and choose to go first. The scenario we're playing is called Incoming (and can be found in the 2012 Steamroller document).

Players attempt to control their own objective, destroy their opponent’s objective, and control a zone on their opponent’s side of the board. The objective (the laser cannons) can be used if the Warcaster is within 4", and let's you place a POW 12, AoE 3" within one of the zones. 

Irusk is being proxy by Harkevich. 

Cygnar - Turn 1

Everything, except the B13, ran across the board. Rhupert gave the Stormblades tough, and Stryker cast Deflection (+2 ARM to everyone in his control area against ranged/magic attacks)

Khador - Turn 1

Irusk cast Iron Flesh on the pikemen and Superiority on the Conquest. Pikeman advanced, keeping Shield Wall up. The Conquest ran as far as it could. The Widowmaker Marksman, and one regular Widowmaker shot at the Stormblades and killed one of them.

Cygnar - Turn 2

Stryker gave 2 focus to the Stormclad and kept the rest. The Stormclad tried to hit the Widowmaker Marksman with a boosted hit from his Generator, but missed. The Stormblades advanced and shot with the Stormgunners at the Widowmakers, and one actually managed to kill one.

Ol' Rowdy, Stryker and B13 advanced on the other flank. Journeyman cast Arcane Shield on Stormclad. Rhupert once again gave the Stormblades tough.

Khador - Turn 2

Irusk gave 2 focus to the Conquest, upkept his spells and cast Inhospitable Grounds. Pikemen advanced and stayed in Shield Wall formation. The Widowmakers killed 3 Stormblades, and the Widowmaker Marksman killed Rhupert with a well aimed shot.

Harlan tried to shoot against the Stormclad (who had an upkeep spell on it) but missed anyway. Conquest advanced past the Mage Storm and engaged with Ol' Rowdy and caused 29(!) wounds, leaving Ol' Rowdy with a single box left.

Cygnar - Turn 3

Stryker kept all the focus, and took one extra from the Squire. The Stormblades advanced and shot at the Pikemen, and a good roll with one of the Stormgunners killed 2 of them. The Stormclad moved into the forest and killed the Marksman. The Journeyman followed behind and upkept Arcane Shield.

Stryker used Overload  (I used 3 diced and got +10 STR and only took 6 damage)  and charged the Conquest. It took 5 hits with P+S 25 to kill the Conquest.

Khador - Turn 3

Irusk cast Grind and killed Ol' Rowdy, then he cast Iron Flesh on himself and used his feat. The Widowmakers shot at the Stormblades and killed 3 of them. Then the Pikemen charged both the Stormblades and the Stormclad. They killed the entire unit of Stormblades, but didn't inflict any damage on the Warjack. Harlan tried another shot at the Stormclad, but missed this time as well.

Cygnar - Turn 4

I tried going for the assassination this turn. Stryker gave the Stormclad 3 focus and charged the Pikemen in the forest, but due to tough (from Irusk feat) it took 2 hits before he killed one. Then I used Strykers feat. Stormclad had to spend 1 focus for an extra attack to kill the Pikeman locking him in combat.

Then Stormclad got to move 3" and make a boosted attack against Irusk. But it wasn't enough, as Irusk survived with only 2 wounds left. Stryker tried to move 3" towards Irusk, but reach fell 0,2" short and he couldn't make the last attack needed for the kill.

Khador - Turn 4

The Pikemen charged to Stormclad in the back and managed to cripple its left arm (open fist/buckler). Irusk activated and moved into combat with Stryker. With 7 focus it wasn't to hard to inflict 11 wound on Stryker and win the game for Khador.

Conclusion

So close, and I could have won if I had done a few things different. I was planning on moving Stormclad into combat with Irusk, and with the help of 3 focus I think I would have done more damage on him. But I was afraid that the pikemen would've gotten a free strike and made a critical-knock-down.

Another thing I forgot to do was to cast 'Positive Charge' on my Stormclad. +2 MAT and STR would also have helped me kill Irusk. I also forgot that Stryker gives the Stormblades advance move, and that I bonded him with the Stormclad.

Really bad moves by me, but this is often what happens the first time you try a new caster, you forget the small things.