My First Tournament

I got to play at a realize tournament of Warmachine MKIII on July 3rd.  The people at West Texas Cards and Games were great and their new Press Ganger was there to help out with rule questions.  There were 8 players so no one had to sit out a round.  50 point lists with 1 hour games, 4 games total.  There were coins for Best Player, Best Painted, and Best Sport.

The list I took:

• Sloan - Shooty Warcaster
• Hunter - Advanced deployment assassin Light Warjack
• Hunter
• Defender - Long distance, heavy hitting Heavy Warjack
• Charger - Two shots per round, Light Warjack
• Charger
• Thunderhead - Electricity shooting, troop killing, melee Heavy Warjack

Every 'jack has a ranged attack and Sloan's once a game feat allows every 'jack in her battlegroup to make an additional ranged attack at +2 to hit.  I didn't know Sloan is a really popular choice right now for this reason.  I just felt like it would work.

My first game was against Circle (sorry, no pic). My opponent took:

• Wormwood, an ancient tree that teleports around the battle field
• Feral Warpwolf
• Pureblood Warpwolf
• Sentry Stone & Mannikins
• Shifting Stones
• Tharn Wolf Riders
• a minion unit of Croak Raiders (read fire tossing frogs).  

We were playing Moshpit (I'm pretty sure) and I didn't understand how the control points worked.  I thought they were tallied at the end of each round.  Instead, they are tallied at the end of each turn.  My opponent had first turn, I had a turn, then he took his second turn and they started counting control points.  Because my list was shooty, I had held back and was not in the 10" circle in the middle.  That was the only point scored in the game.  I killed 29 points of his army and was halfway through killing his Warlock.  I had lost a 9 point light jack when the hour was up and my Warcaster was untouched.  He won by scenario by the one point.  My opponent actually felt bad about winning as I had done more damage!


When writing this, I went back and checked the rules.  The rules actually say, "Starting on the second player's second turn, a player scores 1 control point if he controls the zone at the end of his turn."  So, we should not have started counting points until the end of my second turn.  Then again, I am not sure I would have moved into it and I am not going to hold it against a great tournament.

0/1

Second game, I played against Legion.  At first I thought they were Skorne but they were just painted red, instead of the traditional blue/cool tones.  I am pretty sure the Dragon Father would not approve!  His list included:

• Saeryn
• Neraph
• Ravagor
• Scythean
• Blighted Ogrun Warspears
• Shredders x2
• Beast Misstress (I think)

The scenario was Incoming.  Each round, artillery is randomly lobbed into the battle.  While it was fun to roll for, it had zero impact on the game.  

Unfortunately, my opponent held back a little too much and never really closed with my army.  Eventually, I was able to get a clear line of sight to his Warlock, chilling behind the Ravagor on the left flank and pick her off with my hunters.

1/2

Death to the Skorne!

 Round 3 was Cygnar vs. Khador, the classic matchup!  His army included:

• Supreme Kommandant Irusk
• Spriggan
• Behemoth
• Full line of Iron Fang Pikeman plus officer and standard bearer
• Iron Fang Kovnik
• Field Gun Crew

It was his first time running Khador and he took a little too long getting across the battlefield.  His war caster was behind a nearly impenetrable line of Iron Fang Pikeman with shield wall up and they were marching across the field on an assassination scenario.  Somehow, my 'jacks were able to shoot a hole through the pikeman line, just enough to be able to shoot Irusk from the front and with a Hunter from the side.

In the picture the below, Irusk is behind the wall, as we discussed where he could have been to stop the assassination.

2/3

Assassination of Khador

Round 4 was against a great opponent running Pigs, a minion army (again, no pic).  He told me several times that he had a Sloan Shooty list that he almost brought and I was pretty sure he knew how to get past my list.  His was a melee heavy list and really the only one to close with me all day.  I am not sure what was in his army as it was the first time playing against them and I didn't get a pic.  He was smart, ran straight at me, and took down my Thunderhead in one turn with a single pig.  Somehow, I was able to flank him and get an assassination with the Hunters.

3/4

So at my first tournament, I had a blast and I came in tied for second place out of 8 players.  The players were super nice about making sure I got the math right for hit and damage rolls.  Overall, I definitely have to do this again!

Massive 150 pts Warmachine MKII Battle

We got to play a huge game yesterday! It was crazy fun and I wanted to share it with y'all. We played 150 points. Andy and I split the Cygnar points while Coffey fielded every one of his models. Each side played with three casters. For Cygnar, I took Darius and Andy took Brisbane and Gen. Nemo. Cygnar rolled highest so Andy decided to setup first and take the first turn. Below is my line up of 75 pts. I went a little crazy with labeling stuff but it was fun =)

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

This is Andy's line up. Brisbane isn't listed but he is tucked away behind the Defender and Centurion. In regular Warmachine, if you lose your caster, the game is over. For this game, we decided to you had to kill two of the other faction's three casters for the win.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

This is Coffey's lineup. During his Advance Deployment phase, he would place a Manhunterin the trees to the right and Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios on the hill in the center. Both have stealth and cannot be shot at from more than 5" away. The Widow Makers will advance deploy into the trees on the left. (Coffey would want me to add that he really does have the models for the Iron Fang Uhlans but they are on the painting table and he had to use these as proxies). Karchev is one of Coffey's casters, though he is as big as a Warjack and has the heath boxes to prove it.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

This is the center of the Khador line. Notice how big Karchev (the black jack) is to a person sized miniature like the Winter Guard!

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

This is the left side of the Khador line with most of the heavies. The other two casters are Vlad and The Butcher.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Turn 1:
Cygnar advances. Darius uses Full Throttle to run his Large Jacks forward for free. The Halfjacks get into position to become mines later. The Hunters try for shots but don't have range yet.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

The top of this hill counts as trees. It bogs down the movement of the Long Gunners but provides cover.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Partway through Khador's advance, you can see the Storm Lancers (Cygnar's Cavalry on the end) is setting up to charge the Iron Fang Pikeman. The Defender will take damage from the Bombards of the Behemoth. One shot deviates and kills Andy's Journeyman warcaster. This is huge, as his Centurion warjack goes inert. The Butcher casts Iron Flesh on the Widow Makers. This spell costs 2 the first time it is played but be renewed each turn for only 1. Karchev will cast Tow on the his battlegroup and run forward. The 3 Destroyers get towed along for free and do not count as moving, giving them an aiming bonus. They shoot, killing 3 of the 6 Trenchers and 1 of the Sword Knights. Those things are almost more damaging when they deviate! Eiryss (solo in the bottom middle) disrupts my Hammersmith, causing it to not receive focus next turn.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Turn 2:
Two of Andy's Hunters are able to advance and get great shots into the Butcher (caster) dropping him from 20 to 10 health! Nemo pops his feat, giving each warjack in his battle group 3 focus. Then, Nemo is able to send an electro blast into the Butcher (I believe this is the shot that reduces him to 2 health points). The Stormsmiths disrupt the Behemoth. The Storm Lance Cavalry Assaults the Iron Fang Pikeman and kill the Captain and several others. Their Electro Leap ability is crazy!

Side note: Storm Lances have an ability to Assault. When they do, they charge in getting a ranges attack off before they engage in melee. Their weapons also cause an electrical arc to the next person. So here is how it works out.

• Give the order to Assault
• Make a ranged attack, rolling to hit and to damage.
• If it hits (no, it does not have to damage) then a power 10 electrical bolt hits the next nearest guy. The hit is automatic, just roll for damage.
• Now, with the same Storm Lance, make a melee attack, rolling to hit and, if it hits, roll for boosted damage due to the charge.
• Again, if it hits (no, it does not have to damage) then a power 10 electrical bolt hits the next nearest guy. The hit is automatic, just roll for damage.
• Finally, if that wasn't enough, let your horse kick him a bit with a +2 to his attack roll and a power 10 damage roll (the damage roll may get boosted for being a charge but I'm not sure).

You read correctly, that's 5 chances for kills from 1 guy! It took a while to roll but 5 guys on horses took out about half of the Pikeman and they are pretty tough.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

On my side, the Thunderhead took out Eiryss, the Centurion took out the Manhunter, and the Sword Knights lined up.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

The Halfjacks became mines (4"AOE, power 14). The Stormguard would hold this side so effectively that they never get to hit a thing in the whole game. The Khador cavalry will break to the left, following after Boomhowler's Company.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Off camera, the Khadoran Mortar Crewes miss Darius and the shots deviate, killing four Long Gunner.

Karchev (the black jack/caster in the photo) swings around, pops his feat of Total War, allowing his jacks to power attack for free, and opens a fissure beneath the line of Sword Knights. They are wiped out (i.e. not in the pic, they were in line with the Hammersmith before). The fissure also knocks down the Hammersmith, nullifying his defense. One Destroyer does a little damage to the Thunderhead (in front). The other two gang up on the helpless Hammersmith and all but destroy it, ripping off both arms and pinning it to the ground.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Off Camera, the Devestator uses reign of death tho kill 3 Stormguard. The Butcher pops his feat, boosting attack and damage rolls. He then targets the Hunter with an AOE, knocking 4 points off the Hunters hull and killing 2 more Stormguard. The Spriggan charges the Hunter, dozing him and killing another Stormguard. The Behemoth bombards Brisbane (caster) for 7 points and the remaining Pikeman cut through the Storm Lances.

Turn 3:
The Stormguard advance into the Devastator and Behemoth, causing some damage but locking them into combat. Brisbane pops his feat, misses his shot, but his Defender kills Vlad. One caster down, one to go. The Thunderhead picks up the Devastator and double-hand throws him into the the Shock Troopers. He then uses his energy pulse. All models within 6" are automatically hit with an energy pulse and take a power 12 electric hit. He took out most of Boomhowler's crew, 3/4 of the cavalry, 3 Winter Guard, and a Shock Troop. He also was able to do several points to a Devastator. At this point, Andy had to leave for work =( I had little to no experience running his troops but I knew I only had to do 2 more points to The Butcher to win the game. Each of the Stormsmiths took shots at the Butcher, knocking off one more point of health. Nemo advanced too far in front of his defenders, trying to get a spell into the Butcher to end the game but the range wasn't there. This left him exposed.

The remaining cavalry were able to charge Darius but were unable to connect with much force. The rest of the attacks were focused on Nemo and Darius. Karchev was able to open another fissure, knocking down his own jack, but putting Nemo on his back. From there, the rest were able to finish the old guy off. The Winter Guards couldn't get enough shots into Bisbane to bring him down though.

At the beginning of turn three, Brisbane was able to make the kill shot on the Butcher, ending the game and getting the win for Cygnar.

From 02/12/10 huge cygnar v kahdor game

Over all, this was a crazy big game and it took about 7 hours. I don't think we knew it would take that long and we did have to refer to the rules quite a bit. I think my next game is going to be something simple like 15 points!

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.

1000pt Cygnar v. Khador

This week we decided to play a 1,000pt game, again using the MKI rules. We play at our local game store, Albright's in Lexington, Kentucky (they also sell belts and leather works). If you are in the Blue Grass, definitely check them out! Their tables and the folks there are great! My Cygnar list included:

• Darius
• Reinholdt
  
• Centurion x2
• Hammersmith

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

• Lt. Caine
  
• Chargers x2
• Sentinel

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

• Journeyman Warcaster x2
• Hunter x2
• Eiryss
• Stormsmith

I set up my hunters and Eiryss in the trees near the objective.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

I will try to portray Khador's list as best I can in the write up.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Following are a few closeups of Coffey's list:

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From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

We rolled for the objective and got King of the Hill. The first person to get 5 points for models on the hill (or in our case, the skull bridge) wins the game.

Round 1: In the first move, Coffey's Manhunter took out Eiryss. I thought he would move him onto the objective but instead he took out Eiryss. Eventually, I will learn how to use her. All of his other mini's moved up.

My Hunter's took out the Manhunter and the Junior's cast Arcane shield and up kept it for the rest of the game. Darius cast Full Throttle and moved up with his turtle group. He was also able to shoot 2 pressure cannon shots due to Reinholdt. Caine also moved his team up.

Round 2: The Man-o-war shock troopers moved several members onto the bridge to gain the control points. The Sprigan and Devastator also moved onto the bridge.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

The Devestator used a cloud effect and took out the Stormsmith and Reinholdt.

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From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

The Demo Corp charged a Hunter though he was still alive at the end of it.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

My hunter's fought back killing 1 of the Demo Corps. Darius' Turtle group moved forward and engaged the enemy, breaking his protective shell. One Centurion engaged the Devastator (on the left) and the other Centurion engaged the big black one (I think it was a Juggernaut). Though they both did damage, it was not enough to destroy either.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Caine shot Thunderstike at the Behemoth, knocking him back into the Butcher and knocking them both down. Khador gained 3 control points for troops on the bridge.

Round 3: The butcher stood up and moved to the center of the board, just behind the bridge. He popped his feat allowing almost all of his units to roll an extra attack die for each attack. Coffey attacked the open turtle shell, using the Fissure spell from Karchev and knocked down Darius, reducing his defense to 7. The Kovnik moved forward and killed Darius causing the 2 Centurions and the Hammersmith to go inert.

I was pretty much at a loss of what to do once Darius died. I started really looking at Caine and came across his Flash spell and his Feat. With nothing left to do, I flashed Caine into the middle of the bridge and popped his feat. He basically gets 4 shots at every thing in his line of sight and control range. With all is attacks, plus the shots from the Sentinels and Charger, he was able to take out Karchev, causing his battle group to go inert and no longer count for control points on the bridge. The Journemen and Hunter moved forward and were able to kill enough of the Shock troops to cause a leadership check. Surprisingly, they failed! They also no longer counted as troops on the bridge. Now I have to weather the next turn. I gained 3 Control points.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

Round 4: The Shock troops fled into my Hunter and attacked but whiffed. The Behemoth killed both of the Journeymen warcasters, opening a line of attack to Caine. The Butcher was able to move to the end of the bridge and cast Avelanch. With a surprisingly high roll, he killed off Caine.

From 10/09/09 Cygnar v khador

It was a great game and really flipped back and forth. I was surprising how much the objective mattered in this game, as most Warmachine games evolve into Kill the Caster. We had a great time.

Thanks for reading!

Warmachine Battle Report

I got to play today! Using the old MKI rules, Coffey and I played a 755 point game and we had a blast. I don't have a full list from him but I took a few pics (sorry they aren't the best).

From Wanna B Painter

(above) On my right was this is a 5 man Man-O-War Demolition Corps and 5 horse Iron Fang Uhlans.

From Cygnar V Khador

To my left were the 5 Winter Guard + Rocketeer, Man-O-War Drakhun (the one on the horse) and the Marauder Warjack.

From Cygnar V Khador

He took (I think) Forward Kommander Kratikoff, an epic caster, as his Warcaster and the Kodiak is bonded to her. In front of her in the trees is the squad of Widow Makers and a Manhunter (not pictured).

From Cygnar V Khador

This is my battle group, all packed together like a turtle. It stayed this way for most of the game. In here is Dominick Darius, my caster, his half jacks, 2 Centurions, and a Defender.

From Cygnar V Khador

I also had a unit of long gunners and a Gun Mage Adapt (on the far right).
Not pictured is my Journeyman Warcaster with his Hunter, 3 Stormsmiths and Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios.

My plan was pretty simple. Keep Darius tucked away in an impenetrable shell while Eiryss, the Hunter, and my Gun Mage all went after his caster.

In Round 1, he was ale to kill of 4 of my Long Gunners, including the commander, which really limited their usefulness.

The Hunter was able to make a couple of really good shots from behind cover, including killing the Man-O-War Drakuhn in one shot, then used is once-per-game special rule to run 18" and get into combat with the Widow Makers. He didn't last long but it scared Coffey and he spent one of his rounds killing the Hunter rather than coming after me.

I was never really able to do much with the Gun Mage and the Manhunter eventually killed him off. The Stormsmiths also scared Coffey a little and the Manhunter and the Winter Guard killed them off.

From Cygnar V Khador

Eventually, these 2 Khador 'Jacks ganged up on Junior here and had their way with him.

Meanwhile, Darius has been busy. One Centurion would activate, move aside just enough for Darius to shoot his steam cannon, then he would use his crane to move them back into the Turtle position. Eventually, Coffey was able to run his Uhlan's (horses) up to Darius' group and attack. They couldn't charge him because the Centurion's prevent charges. A half jack land mine went off, killing one or two of the Uhlans. Then Darius' group got to hit first, taking advantage of full throttle, and killed all but one. You can see him running away in the background.

From Cygnar V Khador

However, this left them open to attack from the Demolition Corps in the trees.

From Cygnar V Khador

The Corps moved in and demolished the Defender and all but killed a Centurion. Then it was Darius' turn. Darius moved his half jacks into bases to base contact with the jacks and popped his feat. Darius feat allows him to completely remove all damage from Warjack's in his group! Then the newly refurbished warjacks took apart the Demolition crew, killing them to the last man.

From Cygnar V Khador

Unfortunately, the Winter Guard and the Widow Makers had taken the opportunity to move into range. They took every shot available at the heavily armored Darius and got him down to 2 health!

From Cygnar V Khador

Notice all the people liked up, shooting at Darius. Then, feeling victory close at hand, Coffey moved Forward Kommander Kratikoff in for the kill. She moved 12", using one of her spells, and got close enough to cast (____). I don't remember the name of the spell but hopefully Coffey will. Then he rolled double ones! And the angles sang.

From Cygnar V Khador

With 2 points left on Darius, he loaded up his jacks with Full Throttle and Focus and sent them after Forward Kommander Kratikoff. With their crazy good spears, they were able to take her down!

From Cygnar V Khador

The bad part is that Coffey knew when he moved the Kommander within range that it was an all or nothing play. He could have let his guns shoot me down next turn but he went for the kill. 9 times out of 10 it would have worked for him but I lucked out this time. It was a great game and we are looking forward to playing again with the knew MKII rules soon.

From Cygnar V Khador