Game On

I got to play Warmachine MKII this week against my friend Coffey. I took my camera, got one picture taken, and the battery died. So, the drawings are the best I could do. We rolled for the scenario and got "Break the Line" (p. 91, Warmachine Prime MKII). There are two ways to win the game:

• Kill the Caster or
• At the end of the first player's third turn, a player will win if they control two of the territories on their side and one of the territories on the opponent's side.
  

Control means you have a model or unit in the territory with CMD greater than 1 and there are no enemy models in the territory.

I marked the territories 1-6 for ease of reference. There is a dry river bed splitting the board with a bridge to the left. There is also a pond and several banks of trees. There were actually more trees but you get the idea.

Army:
Knowing I had to hold territory, I decided to go with a ton of units. It is very different from what I normally do, which I thought might throw Coffey off. With 50pts to spend I went with:

• Major Victoria Haley
• Hunter (Coffey often spends a lot of energy killing these things)
  
• Lancer (Haley really benefits from the additional range of the arc node)
• 10 Long Gunners
• 10 Sword Knights
  
• 6 Stormblades +Officer and Banner Bearer
• 10 Stormguard
• 10 Trenchers

Coffey took

• Kommandant Irusk
• A destroyer (I think, I know it was one with arcing fire)
  
• Iron Fang Ulhan (cavalry)
  
• Widow Makers
• Man Hunter
• There were several others but they didn't really come into the fight so I don't remember them)
  

Setup:
I had to set up first. I set up my 10 Sword Knights to the right, hoping to run up the side and secure territory 3. The 10 Storm Guard and 10 Long Gunners would hold the center of my territories. The Storm Blades went to the left with eyes on the bridge.

Coffey set up his cavalry to rush the bridge. Irusk was behind the pond. The Manhunter and the Warjack with arcing fire set up towards the middle of the board.

My Hunter set up in the trees in territory 6 and my trenchers set up in the trees near the bridge. Coffey set up his Widow Makers on the edge of the pond which provided cover.

Turn 1:
Everyone advanced and the widow makers picked off a couple of troops. My Sword Knights ran up the side and got clear of the forest. The Iron Fangs moved into position to take the bridge.

Turn 2:
I advanced my Stormblades to block the bridge. I didn't know if they could kill the Iron Fangs but I knew I could stop their charge and set them up to get shot at by my Long Gunners and Trenchers on the next turn. The Lancer moved forward and Haley arced a boosted Arcane Bolt into Irusk. With a lucky roll, he lost 7 of 17 health and surprised Coffey (always a good thing). Haley also cast Deadeye on the Trenchers and they were able to pick of 3 of the 4 Widow Makers. My Sword Knights were able to make it just inside of Territory 3.

The Iron Fangs charged across the bridge, charging into the Stormblades. I lost 4 but they were able to hold the line. The Manhunter and the arcing fire took out all but one of the Stormguard. Irusk moved away from the Lancer.

At the beginning of turn 3, I realized that Coffey's Manhunter was the only model contesting territory 3. I controlled territories 5 & 6 with no problem. The last remaining Stormguard closed with the Manhunter and took him out. The Sword Knights gave me the territory. In stunned silence, we both realized I had won.

It was a fun game, though a little anti-climatic. Coffey forgot about the scenario and it bit him in the butt. I enjoyed the game and look forward to another game soon.