Thursday 22 December 2011

Scythean

The Scythean is one of the staples in Legion. He's the cheapest beatstick melee beast we have along with the Angelius, and is also one of the best thanks to reach. I don't use it in every list, but the ones where I do I'd really miss him if he came out. It's been a while since I painted a Legion heavy and it took a bit of extra work to get the colours looking like my older models. I knew which colours to use, but couldn't remember exactly how I had mixed them or how many layers I usually did. I just kept at it until it looked "right".



Friday 18 November 2011

War Chiefs

I've been enjoying the War Chief with my Warmongers a lot. He's not super awesome but he's decent at 3 points. With a medium base Veteran Leader is actually a useful ability, since you can actually see through small bases to see it. I pretty much never run two of them. The only reason I have two is becuase they were so crazy good in MKI. But if I was painting one I might as well do the other.



Monday 17 October 2011

Spawning Vessel

The Legion Spawning Vessel is pretty solid in MKII. I don't use it in every list, but if you're playing more infantry heavy it trundles along behind pumping out lesser beasts and tilting the attrition game in your favour. I have found that it's something you always take the maximum unit for. The minimum unit suffers becuase it is both slower and has a smaller range, two issues that compound with each other to make it not really work. The only other downside is painting seven models and only getting three points out of it.


Kaya vs Thagrosh - Kill Box

Circle vs Legion 35 points

So we got lazy and played another Kill Box scenario.  Didn't want to go searching for the new ones and just wanted to get playing.  We played this one with Death Clock.  This is where we both have 30 minutes to complete our game, and if you run out of time you automatically lose. I like having a set amount of time to play but was having trouble with set turn lengths.

Circle:

Kaya, the Wildborne
Feral Warpwolf
Feral Warpwolf
Pureblood Warpwolf
Argus
Wolves of Orboros (10 man squad) with unit attachment
Shifting Stones

Legion:

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
Typhon
Carnivean
Shredder
Warmongers (5 man squad)
Legionaires (10 man squad)
Shepherd

Set Up:

I won the roll and decided to go first.  The Wolves were placed on the far right while Kaya and the Warpwolves took up the centre.  The Argus hung off to the far left.  With advance deployment the Stones were placed in front of the Ferals.

On the  Legion side, Typhon and the Shepherd took up centre placement while the Warmongers faced down the Warpwolves.  On the left flank Thagrosh surrounded himself with the Legionaries and the Carnivean with the Shredder following close.

Circle Turn 1

The Argus casts its Tracker Animus on Feral 1 and then moves into the woods.  Feral 1 warps to increase Armour and follows the Argus through the woods. On the other side of the board the Wolves run forward to mas around a rock further up the field.

Kaya moves into the Stones and casts Occultation on the Wolves to get rid of some Fury.  She then casts Tracker on Feral 2 and Soothing Song to get rid of some built up Fury.  The Pureblood warps for Ghostly and runs just in front of the Stones.  Warpwolf 2 riles for 3 points of Fury and runs to the woods.  With the rest of her battlegroup in the trees, Kaya is teleported there by the Shifting Stones.

Legion Turn 1

Thagrosh starts the turn.  He casts Fog of War then Draconic Blessing on the Legionnaires and Spiny Growth on the Carnivean.  He uses his free animus to cast Spiny Growth on himself then moves up the field.

The Legionnaires run in front of Thagrosh to surround him.  The Carnivean follows up behind them while the Shredder, after going Rabid, follows behind to cast Tenacity on Typhon.  The Warmongers run straight up the centre.  Typhon riles for 2 Fury and then follows them with the Shepherd close behind.

Circe Turn 2

Kaya is able to leach to full Fury and decides to drop Occultation on the Wolves.  This turn becomes mostly about redeployment as nothing seems to be in the right place.

The Argus gives Feral 1 Tracker and advances through the forest.  That Feral warps for Armour and then follows the Argus through the trees.

On the other side the Wolves run forward to set up a flanking maneuver.

Kaya gives Tracker to Feral 2 and advances through the trees.  This Feral also warps for Armour and advances through the trees.  The Pureblood cautiously follows after making himself Ghostly.  The Stones teleported closer to Warpwolf 2.

Legion Turn 2

Thagrosh leeches to full Fury and upkeeps both spells.

The Warmongers run to the midpoint of the board to threaten the Pureblood.  Typhon advances and sprays this Warpwolf doing a total of 12 points of damage.  The Shredder goes Rabid and advances forward so it can put Tenacity on Typhon.

The Legionnaires run forward towards the woods with the Carnivean following them.  This beast stops to spray at the Pureblood as well, doing 11 more points of damage.  It then gives itself Spiny Growth.

Thagrosh then advances, gives himself Spiny Growth then puts Tenacity on everything in range.  That lets the Shepherd move forward to remove the Fury from Typhon.

Circle Turn 3

Kaya leaches to full Fury.

The Stones heal the Pureblood.  The roll was low but they manage to add back 1 point of Spirit.  The Pureblood then gives himself Spellward and moves up to spray the Legionaries, killing 4 of them.

The Argus moves back to give Tracker to Feral 2.  That allows this Warpwolf to warp for Strength and charge a Warmonger and kill it.



The Wolves continue to flank around the right side of the board.  With Kaya's activation to moves toward the trees and grabs both Feral 2 and the Pureblood with Spirit Door.

Legion Turn 3

Thagarosh leaches to full Fury and continues to upkeep both his spells.  With their Vengeance move the Legionaries move toward the Stones until they can get a good charge on them.  They manage to destroy one Stone and injure another.

The Carnivean sprays the Ferals, while one is unhurt the other suffers 9 points of damage.  Typhon moves forward to unleash its spray and kills the Pureblood.  Kaya reeves the Fury.

Thagrosh casts Spiny Growth, Tenacity on the Warmongers, Shepherd and Shredder and then moves forward to the rock and casts Spiny Growth on the Carnivean.  The Shepherd moves beside Thagrosh and takes the Fury off the Carnivean.   The Shredder goes Rabid and puts Tenacity on the Shepherd.

The Warmongers string out through the middle to face off against the Wolves.

Circle Turn 4

More of the same.  Kaya leaches to full Fury and the Wolves continue their flanking run around the outside of the table.

The Argus puts Tracker on Feral 1 and then advances.  Feral 1 advances through the trees to throw the Carnivean at Thagrosh.  The throw doesn't do any damage to the Carnivean due to Spiny Growth but Thagrosh does take 4 points and both are knocked down.

Kaya advances to pull Feral 1 back with Spirit Door and then Heals Feral 2 for 2 points.

Legion Turn 4

Thagrosh leaches to full Fury and upkeeps both of his spells.  Both he and the Carnivean stand up.  The Legionnaries run around the trees.

Typhon advances and sprays Feral 2 for a total of 11 points of damage.  The Carnivean uses its spray on the Stones but does not harm them.

Thagrosh advances and puts Spiny Growth on Typhon and on himself.  He gives Tenacity to one of the Warmongers.

The Shepherd advances and takes the Fury off the Carnivean.  The Shredder goes Rabid and gives Tenacity to another Warmonger then moves behind Thagrosh.  The Warmongers finally charge and kill 4 of the Wolves.

Circle Turn 5

Kaya leaches to full Fury and I realise I'm running out of time and really need to make what I have count.

The Wolves use their Power Swell and charge into the Warmongers and Legionnaries.  They manage to kill two of each group.  The Argus gives Tracker to Feral 1 and then charges to kill two more Legionnaries.

That last throw against Thagrosh was so effective that Feral 1 decides to to try it again.  However, Typhon is a more difficult object to throw.  He's reduced to trying to use his claws to get through the beast.  He does manage to do 8 points of damage.

Kaya gives Tracker to Feral 2 and then Heals him for 2 points, feats and Heals him for 8 more.  All that Feral 2 manages to do is to advance to prepare for the next turn.

Legion Turn 5

Thagrosh leaches to full Fury but doesn't upkeep anything this turn.  The legionaries use their Vengeance to move into the Wolves but aren't able to do anything to them.  The Warmongers, on the other hand, charge and kill two more Wolves, then the Legionaries are able to bring one down with their regular attacks.

Thagrosh casts Draconic Blessing and Spiny Growth on Typhon and then sprays Feral 2.  He doesn't do anything to the beast.  Typhon moves to Feral 1 and does 9 points of damage and the Carnivean kills Feral 2.  The Shepherd removes its Fury.

The Shredder goes Rabid and puts Tenacity on itself then moves to stand behind Typhon.

Circle Turn 6

Kaya leeches to full Fury.  Unfortunately, Feral 1 frenzies and can only hit Typhon for 6 points.

The Argus charges the Shredder and kills it, Kaya uses Spirit Door to bring both the Argus and the Feral back to her position.  The Wolves kill another Legionnaire and wound some Warmongers.  Then my time runs out and Legion wins with the Death Clock in effect.

Afterword:

Myantek:  Once again, I get boxed in by terrain.  I can move through it, thanks to the Argus, but I can't see through it.  That's a bit of a disadvantage when facing Legion. 

I really should have been more aggressive with both the Wolves and the Ferals.  Then trying to manage when to use a Power Attack and when to charge in was a balance that I wasn't doing.  I need to play more often to really make the best use of that.  The Carnivean with Thagrosh scares me.  It can certainly bring in the damage and with Death Shroud in effect the Ferals have to warp for Strength just to get their base damage.  Circle has no trouble hitting things, it's the actually damaging something that can be tough.  The two-handed throw is pretty effective with them though.  It's good for things that I know I just can't punch through and then Kaya can pull them out of danger if need be.

Defenstrator:

Well Thagrosh did what he's supposed to, grind down the enemy. Things were going well while I had the Legionnaires and Warmongers to screen my beasts. Once those got killed or dragged away to stop the Wolves from charging me in the back I wasn't able to beat up on the Warp Wolves without risking a counter charge. Unfortunately for Myantek she took one turn too long to get them into position. This let me spray away and kill off the Pureblood at range.


I like the list, but it would have a harder time if the scenario forced the army to spread out more. That would leave more holes for Cricle to exploit, and decrease the strength of the brick formation.

Sunday 11 September 2011

Absylonia

Absylonia has been a lot of fun. I've pretty much only been playing her tier list which is pretty different. It's taught me how to get the most out of Shepherds, since with no troops to speak of your beasts have to do all the work. Absylonia only has 6 fury so that's a 12" bubble that your beasts can force in, so you have to learn how to use the range extension abilities of the Shepherds. In general it's solid, and can be downright mean if you go first. The biggest problem is upkeep hate, which negates Absylonia's chief strength, her great upkeep spells.




Friday 29 July 2011

Stingers & Forsaken

I wasn't too sure what to make of the Stingers at first, but these days I rather like them. I can have them lurk behind a heavy beast, ready to aim and spray off any small bases sent in to tie ti up. Or I can use it like a cruise missile, shreaking in to do a POW 12 + 4d6 to a living target. Doing 26 points of damage on average is enough to even put the hurt on enemy heavies.
The Forsaken is my third which I painted up for my Absylonia teir force.




Wednesday 29 June 2011

Legion vs Circle

Rhyas vs Kaya - Killbox, 35 Points

It's been a long time since the last battle report. Myantek and I have finally gotten round to another one. Wanting to make it straightforward we played the scenario Killbox and just had at each other.

Army Lists

Legion

Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight
Carnivean
Nephilim Soldier
Shredder
Blighted Nyss Swordsmen - Leader and 9 grunts
Blighted Nyss Swordsmen Abbot & Champion
Blighted Nyss Striders - Leader and 5 grunts
Blighted Nyss Striders Officer & Musician
Spawning Vessel - Vessel and 4 grunts
Shepherd

vs

Circle

Kaya the Wildborne
Feral Warpwolf
Feral Warpwolf
Pureblood Warpwolf
Wolves of Oboros - Leader and 9 grunts
Wolves of Oboros Chieften & Standard
Shifting Stones

Scenario

Killbox

Mark the center of the table and center a 24" square area there with its sides parallel to the table edges. That is the killbox. Starting on turn 3, aplayer automatically loses the game if he ends his own turn with his warcaster/ warlock outside the killbox. Victory is by killing the enemy warcaster/ warlock, having the enemy warcaster/ warlock leave thekillbox, or (if time expires) having the most army points of models (not including fleeing models, wild warbeasts, or warrior models with less than CMD 1) inside the killbox.

Also we were doing times turns of 10 minutes with one 5 minute extension during the game.
Setup

I won the roll and elected to set up first. The strength of my Rhyas army is in melee and I wanted to close the distance relatively quickly. I set up with Rhyas and the Shredder in the centre with the Swordsmen around them. Behind them was the Vessel while the Carnivean and Soldier set up to the right in the trees.

Myantek put her Pureblood on my left with Kaya and the two Ferals flanking her in the centre. The Wolves set up behind the forest.

After this the I advance deployed the Striders on my right flank in the forest while Myantek advance deployed her Shifting Stones in the centre in front of Kaya..

Turn 1

Legion

Rhyas casts Occultation on the Swordsmen and Rapport on the Carnivean before advancing. The Swordsmen run into the centre while the Shredder walks up and puts Tenacity on Rhyas. The Spawning Vessel moves forward and camps out behind the Swordsmen, although it's starting to lag behind. The Carnivean, Nephilim Soldier, and Striders all run up the right side, waiting to ambush anyone who moves into the forest. The Shepherd runs forward and takes position behind the Carnivean.

Circle

The Pureblood turns Ghostly and advances behind the hill. Feral 1 runs beside him warping for +2 ARM. The Argus gives Tracker to Feral 2 and advances into the woods. Feral 2 warps for +2 ARM  and runs into the woods. Kaya casts Occultation on the Wolves and advances to the Shifting Stones. The Wolves advance to support the beasts while the Stones change formation to block LOS to Kaya.

Turn 2

Legion

 Rhyas reaves the the fury and upkeeps Rapport. The Striders make the first move and line up to CRA the Argus for 10 points, then Reform back into the forest. The Carnivean puts Spiny Growth on the Soldier and moves forward to spray Feral 2, but misses with a boosted to hit roll. The Swordsmen then run and spread out, blocking the charge lane to the Carnivean. The Shredder moves up a bit and puts Tenacity on Rhyas again while the Shepherd advances and uses Condition to take the fury off the Carnivean. Rhyas then advances and puts Spiny Growth on the Carnivean. The turn ends with the Soldier just riling for 2 fury and the Spawning Vessel advancing some more.

Circle

Kaya reaves all the fury and upkeeps Occultation. The Argus gives Tracker to Feral 2 again and advances towards Kaya. Feral 2 warps for +2 ARM and charges the Swordsmen in front of the Carnivean, killing 2. The Vessel is out of range to collect Corpse tokens. Feral 1 warps for +2 Str and does a Push power  Attack on the Pure Blood, shoving him forward and inch The Pureblood now has the movement to get through the onstructive part of the hill while Ghostly, so he advances and sprays, killing 2 more Swordsmen but missing the boosted attack roll on Rhyas. Kaya then activates anduses Spirit Door on Feral 2, heals the Argus for two points, uses her feat Wild Mastery to grab fury off her beasts, uses Spirit Door on the Pureblood, casts Soothing Song, and heals the Argus a bit more. The Shifting Stones then heal the Argus for 3 points.

Myantek had used her extension this turn but still ran out of time before she could move the Wolves.

Turn 3

Legion

Rhyas reaves to full and upkeeps Rapport. The Striders advance and shoot the Argus through the forest for 5 points before reforming back to the Swordsmen. Rhyas casts Dash, Spint Growth on the Carnivean, and advances forward a bit. The Swordsmen chrage/run with one making it to the Shifting Stones and killing one. The Shredder advances and puts Tenacity on Rhyas. The Carnivean puts Spiny Growth on the Soldier and advances forward to spray the Argus for 12 more points but bounce off another Shifting Stone. The Soldier advances up behind the Carnivean.

Circle

Kaya reaves full and upkeeps Occultation again. The Shifting Stones teleport back and are joined by the retreating Argus. The Pureblood turns Ghostly and advances to the front Swordsman, mushing him. Feral 2 warps for +2 SPD and to my horror is just withing charge range of Rhyas, managing to just reach with the 1/2 inch melee range. Boosts to hit at MAT 9 due to Kayas Pack Hunters ability, and misses. The second attack does hit Rhyas for 12 damage. She boosts to hit with the third attack, and misses again. Feeling thoroughly robbed Kaya Spirit Doors Feral 2 in front of her and casts Soothing Song. Feral 1 advances and riles for 2 fury while the Wolves shuffle up.

Turn 4

Legion

Rhyas reaves and upkeeps Rapport again. The Nephilim Soldier casts Massacre on the Carnivean and advances into the trees in front of the Wolves. With its free chrage the Carnivean goes barreling into the Pureblood. It's assaulting spray hits the Pureblood but misses Feral 2 behind it. The Carnivean then tears apart the Pureblood. Rhys casts Dash, uses her feat, and camps some fury. The Swordsmen, including the Champion and Abbot chrage Kaya and Feral 2. Kaya is missed with all attacks but the Feral is cut down. The Striders advance to support the Soldier.

Circle

Kaya reaves and upkeeps nothing. She also starts the turn and advances into and kills the Abbot, Chapmion, and a Swordsmen. The Wolves chrage and kill another Swordsmen but can't quite get to the Carnivean. Feral 1 chrages the Carnivean now that the lane is clear and promptly rolls double 1 to miss the attack. It attacks some more and mauls the Carnivean but it's not enough for the kill.

At this point time runs out. With both warlocks alive it comes down to points, which I win becuase of the death of the two Warpwolves.

Afterward

Defensstrator

I would have won even if Myantek had killed the Carnivean, but by only 1 point, so a pretty close game really. Not to mention that it was only due to luck that Rhyas wasn't torn into little pieces. I really thought I was far enough back, but it's hard to tell with that tiny control area.

So, stuff I learned. If you're taking the Spawning Vessel either put aside the 3 points for the whole shebang or don't bother. I got two corpse tokens all game. The problem of taking the minimum is that it doesn't move fast enough to keep up and the range is shorter, with the two problems compounding with each other. Also, I realised afterwards I could have moved and feated with Rhyas first, then used the Massacred charge attack into the Pureblood to place the Carnivean at the back of its base and in range of Kaya. I'm pretty sure MAT 8 and boosting could have finished the job. Instead I relied on the Swordsmen, and even the Champions MAT 8 just couldn't do the job.

Myantek

I feel like my dice deserted me.  C'mon!  Rhyas was standing right there!  The Feral should have been able to tear her apart.  I had a pretty good set up for Kaya.  She was able to send beasts out to atack and then bring them back into a protected zone and away from stuff that could really do them harm.  (Though the Carnivean should have been at least mostly dead... stupid dice.) 

The only thing that I didn't like about my game is that I kept running out of time before moving my Wolves.  They eneded up behind some trees and out of it when I had intended that they jump out and attack something.  I just never got the chance.

Friday 17 June 2011

Aiyanna & Holt

These two show up in a lot of my lists. Whether playing Cygnar or Mercs being able to ignore things like Safe Passage, Wind Wall, etc, plus being able to shoot incoporeal models, is just great. Plus they are one of the few damage buffs Cygnar and Mercs have access to. Holt adds some nice shooting as well. Hard to complain about RAT 8 handcannons.

The colours reflect the armies I have. Purple and grey for my Highborn, and blue and yellow for my Cygnar.


Tuesday 31 May 2011

Storm Gunners

These guys were nice to finish off. With them done the Stormblades are at last complete. They lack the Cygnus that the regular Stormblades have so I painted the quater panel on the shoulders for colour. This also helped to set them apart as the special weapon troopers they are. This not only makes them more characterful, but is actually pretty helpful when keeping track of everybody on the battlefield.


Thursday 26 May 2011

Long Gunners

So, these guys have been like a millstone around my neck. They just took forever to do. On the bright side, now they're done and it's another full infantry unit for the army. I'm finding the Long Gunners a bit erratic in MKII. With the right caster against the right opponent they can be great, blasting infantry and jack alike. But with the wrong warcaster or against the wrong army they have often proven to be a complete waste of points. I can see why people like Gun Mages better, they're just more consistent. Plus I feel Aiyanna & Holt are almost mandatory for any list with Long Gunners just to make sure your investment isn't shut down by things like the Choir or Wind Wall.







Monday 31 January 2011

Harlan Versh

Been a while since I posted. Familyand Christmas were an excuse for December, but for January I've just been too lazy to get all the photos off the camera and too busy playing video games to do much painting.
Harlan Versh is a fun guy to play and was pretty fun to paint. He has my standard merc leather coat with black hat, with purple from my Highborn force and blue and yellow from my Cygnar. My hardest time was with his face, and I can't say that I'm really that pleased with it. I may go back and try to touch it up at some point.