200 Pt Warmachine Hordes Game

My friend J and I have been playing through the Oblivion campaign for WarmaHordes.  He is the Guardian and I am the Corruptor.  We both won some and lost some and yesterday we started out Gateway to Oblivion game.  Throughout the campaign, you build from a 10pt skirmish group up to the final game with 2 casters and 100pts.  As we were building our lists, we decided to up the last game to 200pts and 2 casters.  Here is my list from conflict chamber:

https://conflictchamber.com

and here is J's list:

and Malvin & Mayhem for 17pts

We played on https://wartable.online  It is a great free program that makes long distance games possible.  It has also allowed us to try out models and even whole factions we don't have the models for.

This was our pre-game setup, though I had forgotten to put out the Storm from the North Snow rings yet.  J won the roll and chose to go first.  I chose the top table edge.

Initial deployment

End of Turn 1

At the end of Turn 1, I had Borka2 pop his feat which gives everyone in his control area Stealth.  Both Krielstones were giving +1SPD and +2 ARM.

After the top of Turn 2 - Notice the missing Glacier King?

 J had a great Turn 2.  He jammed up the Mountain King on the left and got him down to 15 boxes.  The Vulcan power attacked the Earth Born Dire Troll and Threw him into the portal, causing instant death.  On the right, the Glacier King is just gone!  It took a couple of shots from the Railless Interceptors and he was  finished off by the failed experiments.  I also lost Madrak0 who was controlling 2 war beasts.  It was late in the evening and we decided to reconvene the following night for the second half of turn 2.

I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to kill his two casters.  Neither of them had popped their feat and Bennet1 has a DEF of 17.  My Trolls are not known for their accuracy and if you miss her once, she gets to reposition 2" away ignoring free strikes.  After a lot of thought, I decided I would not be able to kill either of his casters on turn 2.  Instead, I focused on taking out targets I could get to, opening a lane for the Mountain King, and popping Kolgrima's feat.

The Pig Lookouts worked really well.  They Ambushed in from the table edge, moved 6", Marked the Dragon's Breath Rockets and shot them in the back arc.  They hit on 3+ and killed on 4+.  I did that on both sides of the board.  I also Ambushed in the Polar Bears and Bumbles.  They did a little damage but it was more about clearing out what they could.  They really need to hit from the back and get the Gang bonus to ensure they hit.  

The Long Riders were able to get out of the way and the Mountain King snacked on the whelps to regain 16 pts of health.  He was then able to maneuver up to the Vulcan and unload.

Kolgrima moved as deep as she could and popped her feat, sending out a pulse that takes away flight, eyeless sight, and pathfinder.  It also prevents enemies caught in it from shooting for 1 round.  Finally, she pushes enemies 2" away from her.  I wasn't able to push anyone into the portal (instant death) and Push does not create free strikes but it was nice to control the board a little bit.  J's army is very shooty and he placed "Neutered" yellow markers on his shooters that wouldn't be able to range attack next turn.  Kolgrima cast Vanish, moved B2B with the two war beats that had gone wild and claimed them for her battle group.  She also drew back some fury from the stone in case J made an assassination run.  Finally, the Dire Troll Brawler was able to pound on one of the Railless and remove it.

End of Turn 2

J started Turn 3 without most of his ranged attacks.  The Rocketmen took out some bears, Gubbin missed taking out the right Pygs, and Aurum Ominus Alice Marc transformed into a Bear and took out the right side bears threatening caster Lukas.  It was a tough round and he was really denied a lot of his actions.

After Top of Turn 3

Facing another full round of Trolls, and some bad luck with the dice, J called it.  It's probably a  good thing.  When games stop being fun, it's time to stop playing.  All in all, it was a win due to attrition.  Trolls are Tough, have healing options, and Kolgrima's feat was really a sucker punch to the gut.  

It was really cool playing such a large game.  I planned out my first turn of activation a day in advance to get the best use of all the abilities.  I didn't know what the map would look like but the portal and the cultists were set by the scenario.  I also really benefited from the day to think about my Turn 2.  Normally I would have jumped at his casters but after running the numbers, I just couldn't make it happen.  I did not feel good starting my second turn but it was nice at the end to see how the board had shifted.

I don't think I want to play another game this big anytime soon.  It was a lot of thought and energy.  It was also tough staying engaged when the other player's turn takes an hour+ and you are just getting hammered on.  It turns out I like small games, although I do like playing with the big gargantuans too!