Epic Thagrosh vs Strakhov - Diversion

Legion of Everblight vs Khador - Diversion, 50 Points

   It's been a while since I posted a report against my friend Birch, so we had at it over at his place. It turned into a long and brutal game.

Army Lists

Thagrosh the Messiah
Carnivean
Ravagore
Scythean
Throne of Everblight
Blighted Legionnaires - Leader and 9 Grunts
Captain Farilor & Standard - Legionnaires Unit Attachment
Strider Deathstalker
Strider Deathstalker
Shepherd

vs

Kommander Strakhov
Spriggan
Decimator
War Dog
Iron Fang Pikemen - Leader and 9 Grunts
Officer and Standard - Iron Fang Unit Attachment
Doom Reavers
Grey Lord Escort - Doom Reaver Unit Attachment
Widowmakers
Greylord Ternion
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Koldun Lord
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution

Scenario

Diversion

   This is a Radial scenario and is played from corner to oppposite corner. Two 8 inch zones are placed 16 inches in from both sides of the board in the same corners as the deployment zones. Two flag markers are then place 16 inches in from both side of the board in opposite corners.

   Each player can score only by controling the flag on his right. To control the flag a model must be touching it and no enemy models can be within 4 inches of the flag. Additionally, units controling the flag must have 50% of their starting number, at least one member must touch the flag, and the rest must be within 4 inches of it. In order to score a point you must control the flag and be contesting the opponents zone.

   At the end of each players turn starting on the second players second turn, either player can earn one control point for controlling his designated flag. The first player to earn 2 control points and have more control points than his opponent immeadiately wins the game.

Set up

   Birch won the roll and elected to go first. I had to pre-deploy the Throne, so I deployed it on the flank towards his flag. That way any of his units running in would hopefully get chewed up.

   Knowing Strakhov was immune to most of my ranged weapons thanks to his immunity to fire Birch put him front and centre, with the War Dog behind him and the Koldon Lord close by. The Decimator went on his left flank, my right, while the Spriggan went on his right opposite the Throne. The Ternion set up centrally behind the Spriggan and Strakhov while the Iron Fangs took his far left flank.

   I then set up. Epic Thagrosh was in the centre as well, with an eye to moving towards the wall on the left. The Ravagore was set up between him and the Throne, with the Scythean on Thagrosh's right and the Carnivean holding the right flank. The Legionnaires were set up in gaps between all the beasts with Farilor in the centre. The Shepherd was back behind the Ravagore.

   It was then time for advance deploy units. Birch put the Widowmakers on my far right with the Iron Fangs while the Doom Reavers and epic Eiryss were put ahead of the Spriggan. I put the Deathstalkers ahead of the Throne opposite the Doom Reavers.

Turn 1

Khador

   The turn began with Strakhov assigning the Spriggan 1 focus. The Koldun Lord was the first model to activate and advanced then Power Boosted to put a focus on the Decimator. The Iron Fangs then activated and ran.

Strakhov activated next and put Occultation (model/unit gains Stealth) on the Iron Fangs and Superiority (target jack gets +2 SPD, MAT and DEF and can't be knocked down) on the Spriggan. He then charged the Scythean to get some extra movement. After this the Doom Reavers, Spriggan, Ternion, Widowmakers, Decimator Great Bears, epic Eiryss and War Dog all ran, moving up the field and spreading out.

Legion

   The Ravagore activated first and advanced forward to a wall. It used it's animus Dragon's Fire (Target friendly faction warbeast's ranged weapon gain Continous Effect Fire. Dragon's Fire lasts for 1 turn) and shot the Spriggan, boosting to hit then damage, but only doing a single point to column 4. Death Stalker 1 advanced and shot a Doom Reaver, which didn't make it's tough roll, and then Swift Huntered back 2 inches. Deathstalker 2 advanced up behind the same wall as the Ravagore.

   Epic Thagrosh then activated, putting Unnatural Aggression (if damaged it may make a full advance during the maintenance phase towards the nearest enemy model) on the Throne and Dragon's Blood (target friendly model/unit gets +2 ARM and if disabled in melee the attacker suffers 1 point of damage on a roll of 5 or 6) on the Legionnaires. He then cast the Carnivean's animus Spiny Growth (+2 ARM on target model and warbeasts/jacks suffer a d3 damage if they hit but don't kill the target) on the Scythean before advancing up behind the Ravagore.

   The Throne, Legionnaires, and Scythean ran forward, while the Carnivean put Spiny Growth on itself and advanced.

Turn 2

Khador

   Birch upkept Superiority and Occultation and assigned the Spriggan 2 focus. The Koldun Lord advanced and Power Boosted the Decimator. The Spriggan then advanced, put a Flare down on Deathstalker 1 which got rid of its Stealth, and then killed it with a boosted hit and damage shot. First kill Birch.

   The Iron Fangs, Ternions, Great Bears, Doom Reavers, Widowmakers and Decimator all ran and spread out some more, while Strakhov and the War Dog advanced up the middle.

Legion

   I upkept Dragon's Blood but not Unnatural Aggression. It didn't seem like the Throne was going anywhere at the moment. The Legionnaires activated first, Farilor used his mini-feat Iron Zeal (once per game unit gets +4 RM and cannot be made stationary or knocked down), and they ran/ charged in to kill two Iron Fangs. The Carnivean advanced behind them to spray and kill another Iron Fang before putting spiny Growth on itself. The Scythean ran up behind the Legionnaires to the centre while the Ravagore advanced to behind the Legionnaires and killed 2 more Iron Fangs with a long ranged shot.

   Epic Thagrosh then advanced up to the wall and cast Spiny Growth on the Throne and himself before camping 2 fury. At this point the nearby Deathstalker realised his lord was a horrific Abomination and failed a Panic check. The Shepherd then advanced but wasn't quite in range to take the fury off the Ravagore. The Throne just sat there, not wanting to get murdered by the Spriggan and Doom Reavers.

Turn 3

Khador

   Birch dropped Occultation off the Iron Fangs since they were now close in and assigned 2 focus to the Spriggan. The turn began with Strakhov advancing and casting Ovverun (if target model kills another model, a member of the battlegroup may make a full advance) on himself. Rolling two shots for his gun he manages to kill a Legionnaire with a boosted damage roll (with Dragon's Blood and Iron Zeal they are effectively ARM of 22), and used the Overrun move on the Spriggan, whcih advanced towards the Throne.

   The Iron Fangs then use their mini-feat Reform, and declare the Shield Wall order (+4 ARM while in base to base), but thanks to their high ARM only a single Legionnaire died and the Officer doing it tooks a wound from Dragon's Blood. The Widowmakers advanced and managed to kill two more Legionnaires thanks to their auto-wounding Sniper ability. The Koldun Lord used Power booster on the Decimator, which advanced and managed to kill one more Legionnaire with a damage boosted shot from its' gun.

   Epic Eiryss's activation was next, and she advanced forward and shot the Spiny Growth off the Throne with her Arcane Interference. The Spriggan then advanced and pounded on the Throne, knocking it down to 7 wounds. After this the Doom Reavers, War Dog, and Great Bears ran forward into position, while the Ternion advanced and placed down smoke clouds.

Legion

   It was now my go and I had a problem. Both my flanks had a lot of pressure bearing down on them and the only thing on my left that could deal with the Spriggan was Thagrosh. But if he went over to deal with it my beasts would be left out of control. So at this point I abandoned the idea of taking my point for now and decided I would just have to stop Birch from scoring before pushing my way back into the battle. Accordingly I dropped Dragon's Blood on the Legionnaires since epic Thagrosh was going to need all the fury he could get. After Leeching I also still had a fury on the Ravagore, but fortunately it made its' frenzy check. The Legionnaires then made their Vengence moves and attacks, but bounced off the Shield Walled Iron Fangs.

   Epic Thagrosh activated first, cast Manifest Destiny (While in this model's CTRL area, models in battlegroup gain an additional die on melee attack and damage rolls, then drop the lowest), and charged the Spriggan. He hammers it badly but fails to kill it, although he does destroy the Lance and Cortex. He then used his feat Dragon Storm (After all friendly models have completed their activations the warbeasts in Thagrosh's battlegroup in his CTRL area may advance and make a melee attack).

   With the Spriggan's Lance broken I decided to risk a free strike on the Throne. With Flight it can move over the Spriggan and it charged a Doom Reaver. The Spriggan took the free strike with its Lance, but Birch rolled a one and it missed. The Throne hit the Doom Reaver but it was tough. The second attack auto-hit as the Doom Reaver was now knocked down and killed it, getting the Throne a Corpse Token. This set off Battle Wizard and I cast Spine Burst at Epic Eiryss, which I obviously wasn't thinking about since I used the POW 10 Spine Burst spell rather than the POW 12 Frostbite. Even so my boosted to hit roll (from Corpse Token) managed to hit her, and she died from the POW 10, with the extra hit bouncing back into the Throne for no damage. The final attack hits another Doom Reaver, but it also makes its' tough roll.

   I now redeployed my three heavies. The Scythean ran forward beside Thagrosh. The Carnivean advanced back into Thagrosh's control area and put Spiny Growth on itself, then shot a Doom Reaver which made its tough roll. And the Ravagore advanced and killed the closest Great Bear with its Blight Blast. The Legionnaires went next and Farilor charged in to one shot the Iron Fnag Officer and used Cleave to kill another. The other Legionnaires used Combined Melee Attack to kill another Iron Fang. Lastly the Shepherd advanced and used Condition to draw the fury off the Ravagore. The Deathstalker passed its command check and was now back in the game.

   With all the models done Dragon Storm went off. The Scythean advanced and killed a Doom Reaver while the other two beasts moved up to screen Thagrosh.

Turn 4

Khador

   Birch upkept Superiority but assigned no focus. The Spriggan attacked but missed the Throne and bounced off Thagrosh. The Iron Fangs activated next, advanced and Shield Walled, and killed 2 Legionnaires. The Ternions then advanced and cast Frostbite, killing another Legionnaire and the Standard. Next up were the Widowmakers who continued to pile on the Legionnaires, killing Farilor and another Legionnaire, leaving one left.

   The Koldun Lord Power Boosted yet agains to give the Decimator a focus while the last couple Doom Reavers stood up and attacked. The first killed the last Legionnaire and the other did 7 points of damage to the Scythean. The Grey Lord Escort attacked the Throne and bounced off. The next activation was Strakhov, who cast Superiority on the Decimator and advanced towards Thagrosh and the beasts, then used his feat Iron Fist (Friendly Faction models can charge or slam models in Strakhovs CTRL area for free, and get +4 inches movement on there slams and charges).

   With the feat giving them the needed movement, the final two Great Bears came charging through the Ravagore's Scather template at the Scythean, each taking a point of damage from the Scather. The first did well, smashing into the Scythean and hitting with its second attack to leave the Scythean at 8 health with its Spirit and Body gone. But then disaster struck as the second Great Bear missed its charge attack, and then rolled low damage on the backswing and bounced off.

Legion

   This was my moment to turn the tide. All of Birchs' really hard hitters, except for the Decimator, were gathered in one spot. Not that Iron Fangs are soft, but they aren't weapon masters. Epic Thagrosh started things off by upkeeping nothing, healing the Scythean for two points, casting Manifest Destiny, and then scrapping the Spriggan. The Throne then advnaced and beat on the Doom Reaver UA. He made a couple of tough rolls then died, This set off Battle Wizard and I killed another Doom Reaver by targeting the Frostbite spray at a different target and catching him in it.

   With his animus Slaughterhouse (prevents tough rolls and removes from play) and Manifest Destiny the Scythean had no trouble killing the two remaining Great Bears and another Doom Reaver. The Carnivean continued this trend, Assaulting the last Doom Reaver, boosting to hit and kill a Grey Lord with the spray and tearing the last Doom Reaver apart in melee. The Ravagore advanced, used its animus Dragonfire, and boosted to hit a shot at the Koldon Lord, killing him and a Widowmaker caught in the blast.

   Lastly the remaining Deathstalker advanced to get back in the fight and the Shepherd advanced and took the fury off the Ravagore with Condition. I ended my turn feeling pretty confident.

Turn 5

Khador

   Birch upkept Superiority on the Decimator and assigned it three focus. The remining two Grey Lord Ternions advanced and threw Ice Cages on the Ravagore pushing its DEF down to 7. Measuring carefully Birch saw that Strakhov was just out of range of being charged, and since he Strakhov is immune to fire didn't have to worry about being shot either. So he aimed at the Ravagore, rolled for number of shots, and got 3. Strakhov hit all three times with his POW 12 gun and boosted the damage on each getting solid rolls.

   The Decimator advanced and also shot the Ravagore, putting two boosted damage POW 15s into it, with the final shot causing it to keel over dead. That was unexpected since the Ravagore should have survived on average, and it also brought Birch back into the game.

   The Widowmakers capped off the turn by killing the Shepherd while the Iron Fangs repositioned.

Legion

   Thagrosh leeched fury off the beasts, but the Scythean is left at 1. I did the Frenzy check but fortunately it passed. I started the turn simply and advanced the Deathstalker up to kill a Widowmaker. The Throne advanced and cast Spine Burst at the War Dog, hurting but not killing it. A nearby Grey Lord was not so lucky and was killed by the  Burst, but the final member of the Ternion passed his CMD check.

   I now tried to get sneaky and advanced the Scythean forward, spent a Fury, and did a Push power attack to get the Carnivean in charge range of Strakhov. Unfortunately it is a contested STR check, and the Scythean failed. Epic Thagrosh then advanced and cast Dragons Blood and Spiny Growth on the Carnivean, and Spiny Growth on himself. Keeping the pressure on the Carnivean ran to engage Strakhov.

Turn 6

Khador

   Birch upkept Superiority again and put three focus on the Decimator. Since the War Dog was alive and well Strakhov was immune to free strikes, so he bravely ran away from the Carnivean, as did the War Dog. The final Grey Lord advanced and threw an Ice Cage on the Carnivean lowering its DEF by 2.

   The Decimator then unloaded on the Carnivean, but with Spiny Growth and Dragons Blood it was effectively ARM 22 and he only did 2 points of damage to spiral 4. He also used the guns Beatback ability to shove the Carnivean and move himself back so the Decimator was well out of the Carniveans charge range.

   The Widowmakers advanced, missed the Deathstalker, and did a point on the Carniveans 5 spiral. The Iron Fangs ran into position.

Legion

   Thagrosh leeched and got his final Fury thanks to the Anthac granting him one per turn. I upkept Dragons Blood. The Throne charged and killed the Iron Fang Standard bearer, then used Battle Wizard to throw a Spine Burst into the Decimator which killed a nearby Widowmaker and the last Grey Lord Ternion. The Deathstalker then killed the last Widowmaker and put a point on the Decimators 4 column.

   Thagrosh then advanced and put Spiny Growth on the Throne and himself, and healed the Carnivean for 1 point. The Scythean then ran to take cover behind the Throne, while the Carnivean put Spiny Growth on itself, advanced, and sprayed the Decimator for 3 points of damage.

Turn 7

Khador

   The pressure was on but Birch stayed the course, keeping Superiority up and giving the Decimator 3 focus. The Decimator unloaded on the Throne, but the combination of Spiny Growth making it ARM 21 and poor damage rolls meant that he only did 2 points of damage, before using Beat Back to back up an inch. Strakhov also shot the Throne, but did no damage. Finally some Iron Fangs charged in on the Throne, but again poor rolls and high ARM meant they only did 3 more points of damage.

Legion

   While before I had been playing not to lose by holding Birch's scenario, at this point I felt I might be able to win by scenario as I pushed Birch back. Thagrosh upkept Dragon's Blood and leeched to full. The Deathstalker advanced towards my flag and shot the War Dog, and thanks to the earlier damage from the Spine Burst killed it. But then it made its Tough roll to my annoyance. The Throne held tough and ate the two Iron Fangs that had charged it the turn before.

   Thagrosh continued to act as a buff bot, tucking himself in behind the Throne, then putting Spiny Growth on the Throne and Carnivean before healing the Carnivean for another point. The Carnivean Assaulted an Iron Fang, missing it with the shot, but hitting the Decimator for 1 point of damage. It then killed the Iron Fang in melee, finishing off the unit. The Scythean simply advanced and riled.

Turn 8

Khador

   Once again Birch upkept Superiority and gave three focus to the Decimator. He began with Strakhov, casting Overrun, then advancing to within 5" of the Deathstalker. Unfortunately both his shots miss and so Overrun was not triggered. The Decimator was angry about being denied its charge, and so advanced and shot the Deathstalker with a boosted to hit roll, which turned it into salsa.

Legion

   The Throne charged the Decimator, but with Superiority and a bad to hit roll the charge attack missed. It did a bit of damage with the other two melee attacks. I now made one of two crucial mistakes this turn. First I had the Carnivean Assault the Decimator, rather than simply advance and cast Spiny Growth on itself before shooting. As I expected it was short of melee, so only the spray hit the Decimator, which was hurt but still hadn't lost any systems.

   Thagrosh advanced up behind the Throne and put Spiny Growth on it and the Scythean before healing the Carnivean for another point.

   The Scythean advanced forward and I then made my second mistake, and riled the Scythean for a point too much of fury, somehow thinking the Carnivean only had 2 fury on it rather than 3.

Turn 9

Khador

   Superiority is upkept and three focus is given to the Decimator. Strakhov backed up and shot the Carnivean for some decent damge while the War dog moved up nearby. With no Spiny Growth to hurt it the Decimator attacked the Carnivean. The first attack hit, and with the Decimators Sustained Attack meaning it automatically hit with the rest of its melee attacks, it just kept pounding away on the Carnivean, killing it with the final blow. I stupidly reaved all the fury onto Thagrosh.

Legion

   Having lost the Carnivean things went from bad to worse. The extra fury on the Scythean meant that I had to take a Frenzy check, which it failed. With the Throne right there the Scythean attacked it, and with a great boosted damage roll thanks to frenzy, killed it with one blow. So now with the Throne dead and the Scythean unable to activate, all I had left was Epic Thagrosh.

   Luckily he is a bad, bad, man. I cast Manifest Destiny and charged the Decimator, Thagrosh's Flight enabling him to ignore the rough terrain. He promptly wrecked it and I awaited the counter attack camping on 2 fury.

Turn 10

Khador

   It was do or die time for Birch. Strakhov charged Thagrosh, smashing into him for big damage. I was forced to transfer to the Scythean, killing it, and Thagrosh still took 2 damage points from over flow. Strakhov hit Thagrosh for another 9 points of damage, which produced a once per game lesser beast. I chose a Shredder and placed it so the War Dog couldn't also charge Thagrosh. Strakhov smacked Thagrosh again for another 7 points of damage, which I transfered to the Shredder with his last fury point. Strakhov did 2 more points of damage and was done. The War Dog then charged the Shredder but missed.

Legion

   The Shredder was hurt but hadn't lost any aspects, which was a big piece of luck. As it was I cut Thagrosh until he was at 1 health to fill him with fury, and then still needed the Anthanc to top him up. The Shredder activated first, went Rabid, and ate the War Dog, which was crucial since while it was alive Strakhov was DEF 17. It's second attack missed the now DEF 15 Strakhov. Epic Thagrosh then activated and cast Manifest Destiny. He then managed to miss with the first two attacks, but the next two hit, and with that monstrous POW 18 weapon of his that was all it took to do Strakhov in.

Afterword

   I think this game is a good example of how small mistakes can snowball into large problems. It also made Birch decalre he wasn't going to play without a time limit of some kind ever again. I, on the other hand, found it refreshing not to lose because my time had run out.

   Birch made the first error when he only gave 2 focus to the Spriggan the turn it charged the Throne. As he said afterwards, he should have given it three, had Strakhov shoot with unboosted damage, and if he didn't kill the legionnaire and set off Overrun he could have stood pat. He had the threat range advantage on that side of the field. And if the the Ovverrun did go off and the Spriggan had killed the Throne with the last attack it would have been worth it. Thagrosh still would have clobbered the Srpiggan, but without the Throne he and his beasts would have been far more vulnerable to the Doom Reavers coming in like Weapon Master missiles.

   With the Throne not dying he was unable to do that, and instead the Throne killed epic Eiryss and started to chew through infantry like a boss.

   I in turn made the mistakes of not using Spiny Growth on the Carnivean and miscounting my fury, which put me from being in a commanding position to nearly getting Thagrosh killed. A pretty massive shift.

   I was happy with all my units this game. The Legionnaires performed solidly, even though the Widowmakers took their toll. Farilor isn't a unit attachment I would take all the time, he really needs some extra support to push the buffs he gives to the high level. Fortunately Epic Thagrosh has that with Dragon's Blood, making the unit a solid ARM 18 all the time and a genuinely hard to kill ARM 22 once Iron Zeal is used.

   The Throne did its job as well, beating up on infantry and giving Thagrosh something to shelter behind as he moved up. With its base ARM 19, the highest in Legion, it can also make a very good hard point with Dragon's Blood and Spiny Growth stacked on it.This game it worked as it usually does, going up the flank killing infantry before moving towards the centre in the mid to late game.

   The heavies all performed thier roles as well, with the Carnivean acting as the lynchpin due to Spiny Growth. That +2 ARM buff is a very big deal in this list and armies that can get rid of it are real trouble.

   Epic Thagrosh also came through. Games like this where he is able to strut his stuff, which he certainly did by wrecking the Spriggan and Decimator, and killing Strakhov, usually go my way. Often the hardest part about playing him is trying to get him into play while at the same time not exposing him to counter attack. This army also plays a bit differently than most other Epic Thagrosh forces I see. Rather than emphsising his feat with things like Shredders, I have a more conventional army and use the feat more to redeploy rather than jam in and attack.

Shadow of the Valley

Legion vs Circle - 500/750 points

No Quarter No. 23 had some special scenarios based on recent battles in the Iron Kingdoms. Shadow of the Valley represents the battle between the Legion of Everblight and the Circle Orboros that's presented in Metamorphosis. So, of course, we had to try it.

Scenario

Morvahna the Autumnblade has pursued the Legion forces from the Castle of the Keys, through eastern Llael, and to the borders of Rhul and Ios. The army has been extended beyond their reserves and reinforcements, leaving the slower elements behind. The Nyss and thier dragonspawn have been caught in a valley and Morvahna beleives that she can deal the Legion a fatal blow.

What she doesn't know is that the valley has been chosen as a rendezvous point for the Legion. Reserves, led by Absylonia, are fresh dragonspawn and the newly transformed Thagrosh the Messiah. She attacks and hundreds of drawnspawn swarm from the mountains, inflicting horrible causualties to the Circle army. Only the timely intervention of Kaya the Moonhunter allows Morvahna to escape.


Special Rules


The Circle army is 750 points and all Circle models gain the Advance Deployment ability to represent the army close on the heels of the Legion.


The Legion player begins with only 500 points, but beginning on round 3, the Legion player can put an additional 150 points of Legion warbeasts into play at the start of the Maintenance phase. The warbeasts start in contact with the rear edge of the Legion player's deployment zone. They may activate the turn they are put in play.


The table should be moderately to heavily covered with terrain features consisting of only forests, hills and rocky ground.


Circle Army Composition


Warlocks: Either Morvahna the Autumnblade or Kaya the Moonhunter


Warbeasts: Any except for elemental constructs.


Units: Any except Shifting Stones and elemental constructs.


Solos: Any except for Senty Stones


Minions: Brun Cragback & Lug and Lanyssa Ryssyl


Legion Army Composition


Warlocks: Absylonia, Ryhas, Saeryn, Thagrosh the Messiah or Vayl


Warbeasts: Any


Units: A maximum of two units chosen from Blighted Archers (and UA), Blighted Swordsmen (and UA), Blighted Legionnaires, Striders, Warmongers and Warspears


Solos: Any


Minions: None


Beginning: The Legion player deploys first and takes the first turn. Players deploy their forces 10" from the table edge.


Victory Conditions: The player with the last warlock standing wins.


Legion


Thagrosh, the Messiah
Angelius
Angelius
Carnivean
Shepherd


498 points







Circle

Kaya the Moonhunter and Laris
Pureblood Warpwolf
Warpwolf
Warpwolf
Argus
Argus
Huntress and 9 Tharn Bloodtrackers
Huntsman and 9 Wolves of Orboros with Officer and Totem Bearer


747 points



Set Up

As suggested by the scenario, the table top was fairly dense with terrain. Down both short sides were three clumps of rocks representing difficult terrain with more rocks littering the centre of the board. Two hills stood opposite one another near the centre of the board with small copses of trees at their points.






Legion

In a line, starting behind the small copse of trees, Defenstrator placed Angelius 2, Thagrosh, Angelius 1, the Carnivean and the Shepherd.













Circle

With the advantage of Advanced Deployment the Circle forces were further up the field. Argus 2 and Warwolf 2 were in front of the hill behind a small jutting of rock. Kaya, Laris and the Purblood were sitting on the hill and Warpwolf 1 was on the slope beside them. Argus 1 was in front of the small copse of trees. The Wolves fanned out in the rocky terrain and the Bloodtrackers were beside them.






Legion Turn 1

Thagrosh began by casting Dragon's Blood on the Carnivean, Unnatural Aggression on Angelius 2 and Spiny Growth on himself. He then moved to the top of the hill.

The Carnivean cast Spiny Growth on itself and moved forward onto the hill while both Angelius riled for 1 Fury and ran. Angelios 1 ran in front of the hill and behind the rock and Angelius 2 ran up behind the Carnivean. The Shepherd moved up onto the hill.





Circle Turn 1

At the beginning of the game the Bloodtrackers chose Thagrosh as their Prey.

Argus 1 moved up to the rocks and was joined by Warpwolf 1. The Warpwolf warped to give himslef +2 ARM. The Pureblood moved off the hill to the opposite side of the rocks while Warpwolf 2 moved along the hill and also warped to give himself +2 ARM. Argus 2 ran up the field near the rock formation near the centre of the board's short side.


Kaya moved along the hill and cast Forced Evolution on the Pureblood. Laris ran in the opposite direction of Kaya.


The Woves ran toward the hill and the Bloodtrackers ran into the rock formation.


Legion Turn 2


Thagrosh leached to full Fury and upkept both Dragon's Blood and Unnatural Aggression. He then moved behind the Carnivean and cast Glory of Everblight and then Spiny Growth on the Carnivean.


The Carnivean assaulted Warpwolf 1 with a spray attack that did 10 points of damage. Angelius 1 shot the same Warpwolf but did no damage.


The Shepherd moved behind Angelius 1 and Angelius 2 riled and ran to join it.




Circle Turn 2


Kaya leached to full Fury and upkept Forced Evolution.


The Bloodtrackers ran forward through the rocks and were followed by the Woves.


Argus 2 barked at the Carnivean and paralysed it. Kaya then cast Dogpile on the Carnivean and moved forward on the hill.


Argus 1 moved forward to the rock and barked to paralyse Angelius 2.


The Pureblood gave Ferosity to himself and Warpwolf 1. With Dogpile on the Carnivean he was able to charge it through rough terrain and for free. Warpwolf 1 was able to charge it through the terrain as well and together the two did enough damage to kill the dragonspawn. The Spiny Growth did almost as much damage to the two as they did to the Carnivean. Thagrosh reaved the Fury that was sitting on the Carnivean.


Warpwolf 2 walked down off the hill and Laris moved down behind the rock.


Legion Turn 3


Defenstrator is able to add a Nephelim, Harrier and two Shredders to the very back of his deploment zone. Thagrosh leached to full Fury and choose not to upkeep anything.


Shredder 1 walked forward toward the forest and gave itself Tenacity once it reached Thagrosh's command area. Shredder 2 went Rabid and ran forward to engage a Bloodtracker. The Harrier ran up the hill and the Nephelim ran in front of Thagrosh.


Thagrosh cast Glory of Everblight and charged the Pureblood. With reach he was close enough to attack. The first 11 points were transferred to Warpwolf 2, the second attack missed but the third killed the Pureblood in an eruption of ash.


Angelius 2 shot and killed the heavily wounded Warpwolf 1 (Kaya reaved the Fury as he died) and Angelius 2 charged the Wolves. It killed the first and then killed two more by being Ravenous. The Shepherd ran behind Angelius 2.


Circle Turn 3


Kaya leached to full Fury but had to leave 1 Fury on Argus 2. He passed his threashold check and did not Frenzy.


Argus 2 slamed Thagrosh, boosting to hit. I needed to roll a 12 and I rolled a 13. With a boosted roll to damage the Argus did 4 points and pushed Thagrosh 2 inches back towards the hill. That gave just enough room for the Bloodtrackers to Ambuscade their Prey. They rolled and passed their Leadership test to move toward the Abomination. Then it was the death of a thousand needles as the Bloodtrackers did a lot of little damage. There was one hit for 5 damage that produced a Shredder but that didn't save Thagrosh from being hit by javelins and one hit of 8 points that Defenstrator decided to transfer. Eight of the Bloodtrackers were able to Ambuscade. One was locked in position with the Shredder and one stayed back to maintain unit coherancy.


Afterward


Myantek


I initially went into this feeling really constricted. There were only two warlocks I could take and I've never played Morvahna. With epic Kaya I like to take the Woldwyrd and the Sentry Stone but no luck with this scenario. I decided to go wolf heavy with the Pureblood and two Warpwolves and then stick to Argus for the speed. I didn't expect to do more with the Argus than maybe spread out his force a little or stand in the way of something. The Bloodtrackers and Wolves are two big units that could both do damage to epic Thagrosh and cause him some trouble because of Hubris. I knew Defenstrator likes to play beast heavy, and that he'd probably be taking the two Angelius so my plan was to set my heavies on his heavies and then use the troops and Kaya to take down Thagrosh.


That's pretty much what I did. The third turn came faster than I was expecting it to so I wasn't quite in the position that I wanted to be in before I had to worry about the reinforcements. Slamming with the Argus was a bit of a gamble but I figured that if it worked I'd be in a really good position becase Thagrosh would be knocked down and if it didn't work I could still send in Kaya and Laris. I thought about trying to kill the Angelius with the Wolves (I think they could've done it) but I didn't want to give all that Fury to Thagrosh for transferring.


This was the first time I was able to get the Bloodtrackers to Ambuscade on their Prey. It was much more effective than I thought it was going to be. The girls really came through for me. Actually, as a whole I was pretty happy with this army. I could see playing it again. Although, as much as I love Argus, one of them would be dropped for a Woldwyrd.

Defenstrator

I thought I was safe, then died. This seems to happen quite often against the Circle Oboros. Tucked in behind the rocks the second Warpwolf couldn't get to me, and the Angelius blocked LOS to the Wolves and Bloodtrackers. The only one who could reach me was Kaya, and she doesn't have the power to beat Thagrosh down in one turn unless there are a bunch of enemies nearby to boost Kaya. What I didn't count on was the Argus. A decent distance away and at -4 to hit on power attacks he seemed a minimal threat, but he caught me on the slam and shoved Thagrosh just far enough to get him right into the open, where pincushion death quickly followed.

In general I was happy with how I played. I armoured up then sacrificed the Carnivean to get the counter attack and kill the Pureblood and Warpwolf 1. My goal was to kill all the heavy hitters while staying away from the troops, and then grind Myantek down under my waves of beasts. Unfortunately my first beast wave didn't accomplish anything. The Bloodtrackers were too far away for me to tie up effectively, and they basicly showed up to become witnesses to Thagrosh's death. I had made sure I had a bunch with one fury on them to chain damage onto, but never took a hit large enough to kill one and reeve new fury. Popping my feat was a possibility, as I could have used the extra movement to tie up more Bloodtrackers, but I was hoping to use it turn 4 where it would be more effective with the first wave of beasts and help get the second wave up the table. Death, of course, precluded that, but hindsight is 20/20 and I thought that was going to make it through to my next turn. I would be curious to try this scenario again with different warlocks, and perhaps we will do so in the future.

Epic Thagrosh

I finaly have eThagrosh painted up. Even if I spent most of April playing Warmachine MKII he is just too cool a model to let sit there. All in all I found him to be alot of fun. It was like painting one of my beasts but kicked up a notch with all the extra detail.

His skin and bones were my standard GW Catachan Green to Camo Green and Scorched Brown to Vermin Fur/ Blazing Orange mix. The metal was Chainmail washed with Taimya smoke and then highlighted with Chainmail and Mithril Silver. The gold detailing was Shining Gold washed with Privateer Brown Ink, and then highlighted with Shining Gold and Burnished Gold. The Leather was Scorched Brown washed with Devlan Mud wash and then highlighed to a SnakebiteLeather/ Bubonic Brown mix, with a little more Devlan Mud applied in spots. The purple was Lich Purple highlighted with Liche Purple/ Fortress Grey mix and then washed with Leviathan Purple wash.

Epic Thagrosh vs Epic Irusk

750 Points- Legion vs Khador

My friend Alex (Indy on the forums) had beaten my Rhyas army last week with his no jack eIrusk army. I wanted a re-match and it seemed a good time to try out Epic Thagrosh, who had just been released this week. We both played semi-themed armies. I had all the wings I could reasonably stuff in, while his army was mostly made of Iron Fangs and Man o' War.

Armies

Legion
Thgrosh, the Messiah

Angelius

Angelius

Seraph

Seraph

Harrier

Harrier

Forsaken

Forsaken

Deacon + 4 Riders

Swamp Gobbers

Khador

Supreme Kommandant Irusk

War Dog

Great Bears of Gallowswood

Sergeant + 7 Pikemen
Iron Fang Officer & Standard Bearer

Kovnik Markov

Kapitan + 4 Uhlans

Kapitan + 4 Demolishers

Kapitan + 3 Shocktroopers

Capo + 6 Kayazy

Kayazy Assassin Underboss

Scenario

The scenario was Break the Line. The board is diveided into six 14" by 16" sections. A player controls a section if he has one or more models completely within the section and his opponent has none. For a unit to control the section the entire unit must be in it, and models with CMD 1 or less, fleeing models, wrecked warjacks, and wild beasts do not count when checking for control.

Set Up

Indy won the roll and chose to go first. The Kazny were set up on the far left with Markov beside them. Then came the Demo Core who were set up behind the trees. Next were the Man o' War, with eIrusk and the Wardog set up behind them. Then came the Iron Fangs, with the Great Bears behind, with the Uhlans set up on the far right.

My set up put Harrier 1 on my far left, but not as for over as the Kazny. Beside it was Forsaken 1 with Angelius 1, Seraph 1 and Angelius 2 behind the trees. Epic Thagsoh stood in the open with Forsaken 2 beside him and the Swamp Gobbers over 3" behind. Seraph 2 and Harrier 2 were close beside with the Raptors positioned on my far right.

Turn 1

Khador

The Kazny run forward with Markov beside them. The Man o' War and Iron Fangs move forward and Shield Wall, while the Uhlans run up the flank. Irusk and Wardog then move up behind the Man o' War and casts Artifice of Deviation in the woods and Tactical Supremacy on the Man o' War. The Demo Core then run through the woods while the Great Bears run up behind the Iron Fangs. The Man O' War then take their Tactical Supremacy 3 inch move.

Legion

I begin with Thagrosh and start by casting Slipstream, Unnatural Aggression on Angelius 2, and Dragon's Blood on Seraph 2. Thagrosh then moves forward, slipstreaming Seraph 2, and ends with his base partially in the woods. Seraph 1 Slipstreams Angelius 1 and ends in the woods. Angelius 2 then runs forward to the broken wall. Forsaken 1 moves up and takes the fury off Serpah 1. Seraph 2 runs forward and Forsaken 2 move up and takes the fury off him. Harrier 2 runs forward to screen the approach to Thagrosh. Angelius 1 and Harrier 1 run to the centre of the ruin. Finaly the Raptors move up, shoot at the Uhlans doing nothing before backing off a little, while the Swamp Gobbers move up and put the cloud on Thagrosh, Forsaken 2 and Harrier 2.

Turn 2

Khador

Indy doesn't upkeep Tactical Supremacy. The Uhlans advance slightly while the Iron Fangs and Man o' War advance and Shield Wall. The Man o' War shoot at Harrier 2 but are out of range. Irusk and Wardog move up behind the Man o' War and Irusk casts Artifice of Deviation on the ruins beside Angelius 1. He then shoots Harrier 2, reducing it to 1 wound. Then Demo Core in the woods run while the Kazny run beside the wall. Markov then charges through the Artifice into Angelius 2. He gets no criticals though, and only does 6 points of damage. The Great Bears move in tight behind the Iron Fangs.

Legion

Thagrosh leeches to full and upkeeps Dragon's Blood on Seraph 2. He then starts the turn by casting Glory of Everblight and charging Markov. He smashes him once, I forget that Thagrosh has 2 intial attacks, and buy another attack to finish Markov off. Seraph 1 Slipstreams Angelius 1 and moves up, but is just out of range of the Demo Core. Angelius 1 then moves over and engages the Kazny, killing one, moving with Ranvenous, and killing the Underboss. Forsaken 1 moves over and grabs the fury off Angelius 1. The Raptors double shot at the Uhlans doing a whole point of damage, and then retreat a couple of inches. Seraph 2 moves up, kills two Demo Core, and wounds two others thanks to Glory of Everblight. The Demo Core leader is then killed by a shot from Angelius 2. Harrier 2 moves up as a sacrifice to engage the Man o' War. This provokes a counter charge from the Wardog who goes chrarging through the Man o' War thanks to Irusk, but fortunately misses the attack. The Swamp Gobbers move up and put the smoke cloud on Serpah 2, and I forget to move Harrier 1 entirely.

Turn 3

Khador

The Demo Core advance and kill Harrier 2. Irusk and Wardog advance and Irusk puts Battlelust on the Man' o War. He then makes a boosted shot at Forsaken 2 but misses. The Man 'o War charge Seraph 2 but are forced to Combined Melee Attack due to the Swamp Cloud. The first hit does 12 points of damage, but I get lucky and the second CMA misses, leaving the Serpah without his Mind. The Iron Fnags move over to screen Irusk and Shield Wall. The Uhlans run to engage the Raptors while the Great Bears run after them up the field. The Kazny surround Angelius 1 and do 6 points.

Legion

Thagrosh leeches to full and upkeeps nothing. Forsaken 1 moves to the Kazny and Blight Shrouds, killing them all. Seraph 1 moves out of cambat and spends all its fury to kill the Man o' War leader. Thagrosh feats, casts Glory of Everblight, and charges the Man o' War. I remember his second attack and he hammers them all down, but Indy actually starts making his tough rolls. It takes all of Thagrosh's fury to kill two and leave the last one knocked down. Serpah 1 then moves over and vaporises the final knocked down Man o' War. Harrier 1 runs into the far left section and I win on scenario.

Afterward

An interesting game. I played regular Thagrosh alot and it was an nice contrast. Funnily enough I didn't find his epic version to be much better in melee than the regualr version. Regular Thagosh could have done all the killing that epic Thagrosh did this game. The big difference is the wings. Terrain doesn't impede him the same way, but more importantly, neither do other models. Thagrosh is invariably behind something else, and being able to charge through and past your screening models is a big advantage. It makes Hubris more explainable because otherswise I think epic Thagrosh could dismantle armies single handedly by jumping on and destroying different sections.

The signiture spell is definately Glory of Everblight. The only way I can describe it is that it makes you feel lucky. Your rolls tend to come through for you. You aren't getting much better than average, but you hardly ever get the run of bad rolls that can screw you over. Dragon's Blood is also a solid spell. It's essentially a Legion version of Arcane Shield, and that is never a bad thing. Unnatural Aggression I was less impressed with. Now the army I faced didn't have much shooting in it, but it occured to me that even if they had shot my Angelius I wouldn't have dared to advance it since the nearby Khador models would have just torn it into shreds. So in actual play I think this spell is a bit more marginal than it looks on paper. Black Chasm and Flesh Eater both suffer from being a bit too expensive to cast with Glory of Everblight, so I didn't use them this game. Again they seem a bit situational, but more games will tell.

Hubris didn't turn out to be much of a problem, but I kept a Seraph and a Forsaken nearby epic Thagrosh the whole game just in case this came up. I think as long as you keep the initiative it shouldn't be too much of an issue, but a different army with more sacrificial models could be a real pain. I worry about both Skorne and Menoth when it comes to this.