Mark III Journeyman Battle

Magnus vs Helynna - Mangled Metal, 0 Points

   It's been a while since the last update. But Warmachine and Hordes MkIII has arrived and we have been enjoying it. Myantek and I decided to play the armies that we had not been using as much, so she bought the Retribution Battlebox and I bought a Rover, which gave us each the core units of the Journeyman League. We play big games on Friday with our friends and on Sunday evenings will be doing our own Journeyman games.

Army Lists

Magnus the Traitor
Mangler
Rover

vs

Magister Helynna
Manticore
Griffon
Chimera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenario

   The scenario was simple, kill the enemy caster.

Set Up

   I won the roll to go first and Myantek picked the side. With just the warcaster and two jacks deployment was straightforward. I placed centrally with an eye for cover as I advanced. Myantek did the same opposite me.

 Turn 1

Mercs

   Magnus put Snipe (+4 Rng on target model) on the Rover, Blur (+3 Defense against range and magic attacks) on himself, and Death Ward (+2 ARM and pick hit locations) on the Mangler. He then charged the Griffon and moved 8 inches before his turned ended with the failed charge. The Mangler and Rover both ran.

Retribution

   The Griffon used its Fleet ability to gain +2 movement and advanced 8 inches. The Chimera Apparated (place this model anywhere completely within 2 inches) and advanced. The Chimera advanced and placed a wall template. Helynna advanced and cast Deceleration (+2 ARM vs Ranged and Magic attacks) and Rhythm of War (Warjacks in the battlegroup can advance 3 inches after all models have activated). The jacks then moved forward another 3 inches.

Turn 2

Mercs

   Magnus upkept all the spells on his battlegroup for free thanks to his Resourceful ability, and assigned one focus to the Rover. The Rover advanced and shot at Helynna, but missed even though it boosted to hit. Magnus then advanced and put Blur on the Rover, and the Mangler ran to block line of sight to Magnus.

Retribution

   Helynna spent one focus to upkeep Rhythm of War and assigned one focus to the Manticore. The Manticore advanced and shot. Myantek rolled two for the number of shots on its d3. It hit the Mangler with the first shot but the boosted damage still bounced thanks to Death Ward. The second shot missed. The Chimera Apparated forward. Helynna cast Obliteration ( Cost 4, Rng 10, AOE 5, POW 15) through it at the Rover, hit, boosted damage and did five damage to the one column. Magnus spent a focus to prevent the damage from the AOE. The Warjacks then repositioned 3 inches.

Turn 3

Mercs

    Magnus upkept for free due to Resourceful, and assigned one focus to the Rover. The Rover advanced and shot the Griffon, doing 2 points of damage. Magnus then used his Feat, Hit and Run (Models in battlegroup gain Parry. After all models have activated all the models in his battlegroup can run for free.) and charged, ending his activation.. The Mangler also ran. During the feat move the Mangler and Rover ran to engage Helynna, while Magnus ran past to safety.

Retribution

   Helynna upkept nothing and assigned one focus to both the Chimera and Griffon. The Chimera Apparated behind the Mangler. The Griffon smashed the Mangler with a roll of 6,5,5, for 8 points, then bounced off with the shield. Helynna struck the Mangler twice, pushing it five inches away with her due to her staffs Force Grip (Instead of causing damage, an enemy model hit by this attack can be pushed up to 3" in any direction.). The Chimera then charged Magnus and hit with its combo strike. Magnus spent a focus to reduce the damage but still took 7 points. The Manticore advanced, spent a focus to gain +3 Strength, and did 8 damage to the Mangler.

Turn 4

Mercs

    Magnus upkept for free again and assigned two focus to both the Mangler and the Rover. Magnus attacked the Chimer and missed, then cast Iron Aggression (Target warjack may run, charge, or slam for free. Melee attack rolls on the warjack are boosted.) the Mangler. The Mangler then advanced toward Helynna taking 5 damage from a free strike from the Chimera. It then used its Thresher special attack, striking the Griffon for 10 points of damage. Boosting the attack on Helynna it did 5 points of damage, then bought and boosted to hit another attack for 6 more, with Helynna spending focus to reduce both those hits.

   The Rover then moved in, and finished Helynna off.

Afterward

Defenstrator

   Well that was interesting. I felt I had to get in on Myantek right away as she was going to just out shoot me or yank a jack in with Helynna's staff and tear me apart piecemeal. So I popped my feat and rushed her. Was it the right move? I got away with it, but I think that was more because of Myantek's inexperience with playing Helynna rather than any tactical brilliance on my part.

Myantek

   I'm not used to assigning focus.  Too many games with Hordes where I can do things on the fly.  Also, Kaya can get herself out of trouble much easier than Helynna can.  I made a lot of mistakes.  Mostly due to inexperience with the models (for instance, Apparate is supposed to happen in the maintenance phase, oops).

   Helynna is certainly an interesting caster.  I can see possibilities but balancing 'jacks and spells is going to be the tricky part.

Thorn

   Thorn is an effective, if expensive, arc node. I feel that regular Lancers are overpriced and really only worth 5 points, so why shell out 8 points for Thorn? There are a few of reasons.

First it has a higher MAT and POW than a regular Lancer, and so it can be used more effectively offensively. This especially combines well with the second reason, its ability to move an additional 3" once per turn after it channels a spell. These combine together to let the jack be a decent assassin with a few casters. Epic Stryker, for example, can cast Polarity Field through Thorn onto itself, making it effectively MAT 9 POW 15 with 14" of threat range. And thanks to the out of activation move, it doesn't have to take that 14" in a straight line.

   Lastly, all three Haleys like to take an Arc Node, and its affinity with them allows it to channel while engaged, which deals with an arc nodes biggest weakness. It also has a funny Imprint called Disengage which allows it to move away from things that miss it, but I find I don't use it too often as it costs a focus, and opponents going after Thorn usually make sure they're going to hit.

   I converted this model a bit. The spear came bent and eventually broke, so I replaced the front shaft with brass rod. This gave it a similar look to my Centurion, so I also added a power cord to the spear made out of guitar wire to tie the two together even more. It already had a Cygnus on it and its shield, so I added the quartered pattern I have on a number of other models in the army.

Stormwall

The Stormwall has been a big deal on a number of levels. Cygnar relies on its jacks to do the heavy lifting, and to provide the hardest hitting guns. But generally if a jack does one it doesn't do the other. The Stormwall does both, and brings good covering fire, and synergises with Cygnar's lighting powers, which are one of its most potent metheods of troop clearing.

It's also a kick ass model. I like it becuase it really captures the grace and technological prowess of the faction while still feeling very Iron Kingdoms. The only conversion work I did was to add the contector wires from the generator to the gauntlets. It makes it look more natural to power its electro-leaps, and ties it in with the Thunderhead.

Thunderhead

I had been saving the Thunderhead. There were a few other things I had planed to paint first and it was going to be my treat for finishing them. But I really felt like painting it, and the first rule of getting stuff painted is paint the stuff you want.

It was a pretty straightforward project, mainly being like my other warjacks but there just being more of it. The exception was all the lightning coils which took a long time to indiviually highlight.

Defender

I've been getting alot of use from my Defender lately. I had been running the Centurion alot but felt he was underperforming alot of the time. With his high cost and gimpy shield he needs to be in just the right list to be worth it. The Defender on the other hand has been great. Doesn't need alot of support, is doing something all game, and can still do the job in melee.

Ol' Rowdy

I really like Ol' Rowdy. It's a great model and fun to play on the field as well. I spent a bit more time blending the blue and yellow than on my other jacks. He's a character and should stand out a bit, but mainly it's because of the huge open area on his right shoulder. Those big squares needed extra work to stop from looking choppy.

Sentinel

I wasn't sure if I was going to bother painting my Sentinel or not. But then in Prime he recieved Shield Guard and became worth my time.

Centurion

This model involved a fair amount of conversion. I extended his ridiculously short spear, added some piping to power the piston action, and pinned the banner from the Stomclad on top.

Ironclad #1

I completed my first ironclad as part of the Feb painting challenge. There wasn't much converting on it aside from cutting and twisting the hammer hand, but I did replace the standard Ironclad head with the one from the Stormclad. I think the martial knightly helmet and rounded curves fit better on the chasis than the regular head.