Come the day of, there were around 26 players that showed up for the event (based on what I saw and heard the day of the event) with a great distribution of factions and 'casters being represented. Join me after the break for my recap of how the day went.
My original plan for 35 point lists was going to be a Vlad2/Sorscha2 combo, but as I thought more and more about that pairing, I really didn't like how I felt about putting that pair up against strong colossal builds. Because of that, and in an effort to get more experience in with the big man, I opted instead for Butcher3/Sorscha2 paired up.
Here are the lists:
Butcher3 - 35 Points:
Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed (*4pts)
* Juggernaut (7pts)
* War dog (1pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
* Koldun Kapitan Valachev (2pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Tactical Arcanist Corps (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Not a lot of remarkable elements in this list; it's mostly just a pared down version of the 50 point list I've run in the past, with the addition of the TAC + Valachev to give Butcher3 some clouds behind (something I messed around with a bit recently.)
Sorscha2 - 35 Points:
Forward Kommander Sorscha (*6pts)* Beast-09 (11pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)
This is the 35 point Sorscha2 list I've gone over before, and like the Butcher3 list is shouldn't be too surprising. It ended up being a DEF skew, which is cool though totally unplanned.
There are four rounds to get through, so this is going to be more of a quick hits recap than a play by play. I'm also terrible with names (I'd still need to ask for names after an introduction, looking at the sheet, and a re-introduction prior to game start,) so I apologize up front to everyone I played for forgetting your name!
One thing worth noting is that this game was being run using the beta rules for Steamroller 2015. There was some hope that the final SR2015 rules would be released before this event, but that was not to be. To keep things simple, I just picked Bunker for my objective in both lists.
Round 1:
Scenario: SR2015B Outflank
Opponent Faction: Skorne
My opponent this round had a pairing of Morghoul1 and Makeda2. The prospect of a Molik Karn bullet made me nervous about dropping Sorscha, so I ended up dropping Butcher. He picked his Morghoul list, which was (going from memory):
* Basilisk Krea (4pts)
* Cyclops Shaman (5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Tiberion (11pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
I won the roll off and opted for first turn. I deployed fairly evenly, with Butcher and the IFP set up to go towards the left zone and the Nyss and Juggernaut set up to go to the right zone. My opponent deployed pretty much everything to my left zone.
As was indicated by the deployment, the game quickly became a big fight over the left zone. The Nyss were able to hold onto the right zone for two turns, but Butcher ended up embroiled in the fighting over the left zone. Morghoul pushed in hard under the cover of his feat, with Tiberion leading the charge.
Butcher was able to kill the Bronzeback and help kill Tiberion (with the assistance of the Iron Fangs,) but that left him in range of a Gladiator Trample. Butcher was able to survive the onslaught thanks to a missed Krea shot, but he was still left on 2 health. The good news is that Morghoul ended up sitting in front of Butcher with zero transfers remaining.
However, due to a serious error (buying Flashing Blades instead of single attacks) Morghoul was able to pick up some Fury for transfers and survive the turn, which allowed him to tickle Butcher to death the following turn.
Round 1 Result: Loss via Assassination, 4 CPs scored, around 33 Army Points destroyed.
Round 2:
Scenario: SR2015B Destruction
Opponent's Faction: Retribution
My opponent this round had a pairing of Rahn and Kaelyssa with her Force Wall theme list (T4). Seeing that neither list had an Eiryss in it (and thanking all the heavens for that,) I opted for Butcher again. My opponent chose Kaelyssa, whose list was (from memory):
Kaelyssa (Force Wall T4) - 35:
Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper (*7pts)
*Chimera (6pts)
*Manticore (8pts)
*Phoenix (10pts)
House Shyeel Artificer (3pts)
House Shyeel Artificer (3pts)
House Shyeel Magister (2pts)
House Shyeel Battle Mages (5pts)
House Shyeel Battle Mages (5pts)
Arcanist [NQ54] (0pts)
Arcanist [NQ54] (0pts)
Arcanist [NQ54] (0pts)
I won the roll off and opted for first turn. I deployed with Nyss on the left and Iron Fangs on the right, and Butcher's battlegroup going up the middle. Kaelyssa and her battlegroup deployed centrally, with a unit of Battle Mages on each side and the solos distributed throughout.
The early game saw both sides advancing on the zones (with my guys moving up more slowly due to Kaelyssa's first turn debuff,) and lining up across from one another. The Iron Fangs ended up in combat with one unit of Battle Mages and eventually the Phoenix, while the Nyss tangled with the other unit of Battle Mages and the Magister. Butcher, his dogs, and the Juggernaut fought Kaelyssa, the Chimera, the Manticore, and both Artificers.
The Iron Fangs managed to clear out the right side while the Nyss killed most of the things on the left, and Butcher cleaned out most of the middle. Kaelyssa ended up taking several shots at him over the course of two turns (one of which connected for 9 damage!) but soon after that Butcher got to Kaelyssa and chopped her up.
Round 2 Result: Win via Assassination, 3 CPs scored, maximum army points killed.
Round 3:
Scenario: SR2015B Fire Support
Opponent's Faction: Retribution
My opponent's two lists this time were Vyros2 and Garryth. I opted for Sorscha2 to try and avoid getting list locked, and my opponent chose his Garryth list. Once again, from memory:
Garryth - 35:
Garryth, Blade of Retribution (*5pts)
*Discordia (10pts)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker (2pts)
House Shyeel Artificer (3pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Mage Hunter Infiltrators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander (3pts)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Strike Force Commander (2pts)
I won the roll off and opted for second turn. My opponent deployed all of his models save the Mage Hunter Infiltrators opposite the enemy objective flag, and I did something similar (WGI behind my flag and objective, everything else opposing the enemy objective/flag.) Though I didn't quite realize it would work out that way due to Advanced Deployment on most of his army.
This game became a quick rush to the flags, after a very defensive first turn by Sorscha (due to the advanced threat of all the Mage Hunters.) She froze the Infiltrators, which led to most of them being wiped out, while the Strike Force torn down the Winter Guard (including eventually picking off the UA models and Joe.)
Sorscha made a run for the flag on the third turn, which resulted in her Dominating the flag after she Eliminators destroyed the enemy objective under her feat. Garryth tried to push forward to Sorscha's objective and Sorscha herself, but a large forest in the middle of the table limited his options, and Sorscha soon Dominated the flag again for the final required CPs.
Round 3 Result: Win by Scenario, 5 CPs earned, 8 army points killed.
Round 4:
Scenario: SR2015B Close Quarters
Opponent's Faction: Skorne
My opponent's two lists were a Rasheth list and a Zaal list. I wasn't sure which list would be better against those match ups, but I reasoned that the location of the objective zones (and the strong pull to put your 'caster/'lock there) made me go with Butcher3. My opponent opted for Zaal. His list from memory:
Zaal - 35 Points:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (6pts)
Immortals (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
I won the roll off (it's only now that I realize that I won all the roll offs all day; go me!) and opted to take first turn. I deployed Butcher, the Juggernaut and the Iron Fangs towards my flag and the Nyss on the left flank. My opponent deployed the Immortals and one Ancestral Guardian opposite my flag and the rest was deployed centrally (or slightly on the right flank.)
This game became a quick rush to both flags. Zaal ended up scoring first by clearing his flag and Dominating, and Butcher responded by doing the same on his flag while trying to sneak closer to Zaal's flag. However, that left a lane open for an Ancestral Guardian to charge Butcher after spending a soul for increased movement, and a flurry of purchased attacks under Zaal's feat and Last Stand later, Butcher was dead.
Round 4 Result: Loss via Assassination, 1 CP scored, 13 army points killed.
Overall Result: 2 wins - 2 losses, finishing 11th place overall.
Event Impressions:
This was a really, really fun time. The PG who ran it (Tionas on the PP boards and the author of the Seething Ginger blog) did a fantastic job of getting it set up and keeping the rounds running, especially considering how much there was to manage.
This event was also the biggest event I've been to so far (I think the largest one previous to this one was a 16 person tournament.) It was very cool to see so many different lists, check out different people's painted armies, and meet people outside of my normal play group. All of my opponents were very pleasant, fun people to play against. Sorry again for forgetting absolutely everyone's name! Hopefully I'll remember if/when I run into any of you further Brawltimore events.
Funny Moments:
- My opponent in round one, sending in both Tiberion and a Bronzeback to kill IFP, then missing a preposterous number of attacks due to insanely bad dice (so many 4's and 5's.) Then Butcher3 fails to kill Morghoul1 with zero camp, but saves his life inadvertently by killing the Gladiator (giving him transfers.) Then Morghoul1 only manages to kill Butcher3 on his last possible purchased, boostable attack.
- My opponent in round 3, who seemingly couldn't miss an attack roll against the WGI all game (needing 8's the whole time,) while the WGI themselves couldn't be arsed to hit the MHSF (needing 9's with boosted attack rolls.)
Key Mistakes By Round:
Round 1 -
I made two mistakes this round. The first was that I got way too excited with making attacks with Butcher3 against Morghoul1. I figured it was all but inevitable that Morghoul1 would die, with no transfers and Butcher3 having 6 Focus to work with. However, missed attacks count for no damage, Morghoul is DEF 17, and average damage doesn't always happen.
I could have made that situation better by either a) attacking just Morghoul without using Flashing Blades (which ended up killing the Gladiator and giving him transfers,) or b) not activating Butcher3 first and trying to get absolutely any damage possible onto Morghoul1. I had three TAC nearby who could have thrown AoEs at his feet which may have put what ended up being the last few needed damage on him, and I could have just thrown any other attacks at Morghoul1 to hope for any damage to hedge my bets. I know damn well dice are fickle, cruel things, and should be mitigated whenever possible.
A much better idea, and what I should have probably done overall instead, is Energizer and try to charge Butcher3 into the open zone. Dominating that zone would have given me the last 2 CPs I needed to win, and I could have done all that without rolling any dice (with the War Dog nearby for free strike immunity.) I don't think I would have been able to make it without Energizer, but I did have a Vengeance move that turn I could have used to scoot me closer so I think Butcher would have made it there with those two extra 3" moves. Much more importantly, it would have been a safer option than relying on fickle random number cubes. Plus, more CPs is better in the long haul for tie breaks.
Going back another turn, I should have kept a better eye on the prospect of moving Butcher3 to the right zone. My opponent committed strong to the one zone (the best bet he probably had long term; getting rid of 3 Titans is no mean feat,) which left the other zone totally open. I actually ended up scoring during his turn because he couldn't afford to send models over there, and I should have exploited that opening to run Butcher3 over that way (even if not in the zone, near it but outside the threat of the Gladiator.)
The turn I had Butcher3 kill the Bronzeback and try to kill Tiberion I could have probably pretty easily killed the Bronzeback and scooted closer to the other zone (with the TAC to block LOS to Butcher3, though distance is the most important factor.) Sending Butcher3 when I did ended up being a tremendously dangerous move anyways, because the Krea was just hanging out nearby to try and tag him with it's Paralyze gun; if that would have hit, the Gladiator would have killed him fairly trivially, even with full camp (based on my opponent's dice rolls; I only lived because he missed an attack.)
Round 2 -
There's a consistent thread with Butcher3 that I feel like I had all day, and I'm going to address it here: my positioning with him, the Arguses, and his Juggernaut was pretty terrible all day. Time and time again I'd start the turn and realize that I had put the dogs in a location where they were either in the way, or (even worse) not at all in a useful position. I felt like those models were incredibly poorly used by me all day, and that's something I need a lot of practice with.
This game was yet another one where I misused the dogs and Juggernaut, though at least I was able to make attacks with those models during this game.
Round 3 -
Probably my biggest mistake this game was not making sure that something, anything was between Sorscha2 and Garryth after she made her run on the flag. I had Reinholdt and Sylys just kind of hanging around not doing anything, and I should have at least remembered to run them closer to Sorscha2. I was super worried that Garryth would just come through the tree line and shoot her down (though the dice aren't super-supportive of that plan) and being able to toss anything in the way would have helped.
It also would have been nice if my opponent would have run MHSF over to contest the flag; I was on lockdown thanks to Garryth's feat, so killing even a handful of models near the opposing flag would have been quite difficult. I totally flaked on activating the models at all, which was a big mistake.
Round 4 -
This round felt like a cascade of mistakes.
First: I think Sorscha2 may have been the better general drop against the lists I was facing. I checked both of his lists for Orin, but in hindsight Butcher3 feels kind of like a contentious pick against Skorne due to the fact that they absolutely will have a heavy in the list that can kill him on full camp (if not 2 or 3,) and the Extoller Soulward mitigates any of the cloud shenanigans you can try with him (either the Ternion or the TAC.) That may be better with a battlegroup centric approach, but trying to trade Khador heavies for Skorne heavies feels contentious. I'm not sure that Sorscha2 is a "lock" or anything, but she feels safer overall.
Second: I made a huge mistake by giving up second turn after winning the roll. I haven't played very much of Close Quarters, and I totally disregarded how important it is to be able to score first in this scenario. Scoring defensively on Close Quarters seems semi-easy due to the small area you need to keep clear on your turn, and by going second you start the CP trickle before your opponent (thereby putting them on the back foot and forcing them to be more aggressive.) Butcher3 can clear a zone with the best of them - just by himself - so scoring first and consistently probably wouldn't have been a problem. By giving up second turn, I put myself in a bad spot from the get-go.
Third: I positioned the dogs and Juggernaut absolutely terribly this game. They were ever in position to actually do anything during the game, put pressure on my opponent, or just get in the way (more on this in a second,) and losing out on that is a huge loss. Tying into positioning, I'm not sure I could have stopped him from scoring on his turn (he had Zaal, a Bronzeback, a Gladiator, and some Incindiarii nearby for clearance) but I probably could have made it harder for him in general.
Fourth: I 100% could have prevented the Ancestral Guardian from being able to charge Butcher3 - there were no movement shenanigans or anything in play (other than the +2" of movement from spending a soul) - and it was even something I totally could have measured (11" total threat range). There was absolutely no excuse to be in range of that, and even if I was going to be in range of it (I did want to put more pressure on Zaal's flag) I could have shuffled one of the TAC over comfortably to put a cloud in front of that Guardian. I totally brain farted and failed to recognize that threat, and I paid for it dearly.
Finally: I triggered Vengeance on the Immortals for absolutely no reason. Zaal put Inviolable Resolve on the Immortals turn one and I shot it off of them with Eiryss,2, killing one of them and triggering Vengeance. I didn't need to do that for any real reason (I didn't throw any more attacks at them that turn to capitalize on the lower ARM,) and the additional movement and attack it gave that unit hurt me pretty badly next turn with IFP that were either tied up or killed as a result. Similar to the AG charge, I totally brain farted and forgot that they had Vengeance - something that I kind of knew, but don't get much practice against specifically - and that was my mistake.
Things To Improve:
First of all, I need more general endurance training for these kinds of events. I made a ton of mistakes in Round 4 and I'm having a hard time discerning which were tactical errors and which were due to mental fatigue. Many events are likely to go 4 rounds (and it was only due to a pair down loss that this one didn't go to 5) so I really need to be able to feel fairly clear at least going into round 4.
Second: I need more practice against more factions and 'casters/'locks. There is a lot of what can be considered to be common lists for each faction that I have barely played against (if at all) and theorymachine/research can only take you so far. This is probably going to be the hardest thing to improve upon, because our local play group is relatively limited in what they play (and who can make it on any given week.)
Third: I need to improve my play with the 'casters and lists I plan to use. I have precious little experience with Butcher3, and I think it showed over and over throughout this event. I could have won my first game with smarter play, I was tripping over myself second game, and the fourth game was a total mess in terms of set up and execution. I feel more comfortable with Irusk2 and Sorscha2, but only slightly (since their personal presence isn't as big of a deal,) so getting more practice with both of them before any future events would be awesome. As with the previous point, this may be tricky due to how often my local group has been able to get together as of late.
Things I'm Happy With:
In list form:
- The two games I won, I won fairly solidly, and one of the games I lost was still very close. Overall, I didn't feel like any of the games was seriously one sided; I would have had a shot at winning both of the games I lost with smarter play and better pre-game decisions. Live and learn, as it were.
- The event was Deathclock timing, and in no games did I come close to clocking out. I was worried a lack of familiarity of practice with both lists and match ups may have given me "analysis paralysis" that would wind up with me losing eventually by Deathclock. Admittedly, clocking out feels like it's harder at 35 points (there are markedly fewer models in play, so the games seem to resolve faster,) but it's still a concern (and other players did clock in some rounds, so it can happen.) I've been trying to keep my turn-by-turn pacing up, and it at least worked out this event.
- Throughout all events (give or take the final one) I did a good job of scoring CPs throughout the event, which can be important for tie breaks in the long run. Of course, not losing is much better overall, but scoring CPs is an important thing to keep an eye on turn by turn and game by game. Part of that is also a factor of the faction I played as well; Khador is a faction that seems to be more scenario oriented overall (even Butcher3 is strongest in scenario play, with a threat of assassination,) so scoring CPs is important to success with them in general.
- At no point did I tilt over dice. This has been a problem for me in the past and it's something I've wanted to move past for awhile now. It's a terrible thing to do from an interpersonal perspective, and it's an easy way to waste time you don't have in a competitive environment. I ended up with some fantastic streaks of dice luck (either with my attacks, or my opponent's attacks) and none of those got under my skin. Hopefully I can maintain that in future games (competitive or otherwise.)
Thoughts About My Lists:
I like my Sorscha2 list a lot. I could probably mess with the WGI in some form, but Sorscha2 is such a good spot for them that I'd be hard pressed to come up with a different option (especially at 35.) They're also an easy include because I'm focusing that list on anti-infantry duty, and the WGI are one of the best anti-infantry units in Khador, if not the game (well, anti-single wound infantry anyways.)
The Butcher3 list I'm not so sure about, and a big part of that is where I feel like I need more experience with the big man. While I'm aware of the clever plays you can do with him, I don't really have the table experience to manifest those consistently, or at least try to set them up. That's just general unfamiliarity and inexperience though, so that should get better with more games.
Specifically for this Butcher3 list, I'm not sure how I feel about the TAC + Valachev. It's a good module, and I like the total coverage it gives Butcher3 a lot of the time, but I feel like I'm trying to run before I learn to walk a lot of the time. Managing the positioning of Butcher3, the TAC, and his dogs all so that they aren't getting in each other's way but are also in optimal positions to attack next turn (or keep up the cloud wall) is kind of difficult. I'd probably be better off with just the usual Ternion clouds + dog wall to start, and then I can transition to the TAC when I get more comfortable with that.
I also feel like the TAC are more applicable in a battlegroup heavy list. One of the issues I was running into with an infantry based build is that Butcher3 is such a big part of this list's power, so he naturally has to play aggressively. It was more difficult to manage keeping everything in front of Butcher3 while also keeping him in what I thought was a good spot. Many times I'd start the turn only to find that something was out of place or jamming other models up. I think it'd be easier to manage overall in a list where Butcher3 was able to hang further back and send his warjacks in as the first wave (while also using the dogs to contest zones, which makes the TAC clouds more valuable.)
I think I may like battlegroup heavy Butcher3 more overall, but it's hard to say. It's fairly easy to build a Khador list with self-sufficient infantry, so you don't need to worry about them, but at the same time unsupported infantry going up against infantry with any kind of support can run into a lot of trouble (for example: no support means that you just have to run into bad match ups and hope super hard it works out.) Butcher3 can at least do something for his warjacks by giving them additional threat range, and I like how that list doesn't feel as vulnerable to easy anti-infantry answers. I'll have to see if I can come up with a version of it I like at 35 points.
Finally, I gained a ton of appreciation for Madelyn this past tournament. I had her in my initial lists, but she didn't make the cut for my 50 point jank experiments, nor did I include her at 35 (mostly due to running out of points.) I had kind of written her off as nice, but unnecessary, especially since your opponent controls if she procs or not. While that may be true (and she is very killable,) I learned the hard way that a huge portion of Butcher3's melee threat comes from all the supplemental 3" moves he can get. Just Energizer alone usually isn't enough - plus it's a huge drain to his initial Focus pool - so you really want to at least be forcing your opponent to work around denying you Intrigue and Vengeance moves, instead of just allowing them to operate normally. I need to glue Madelyn back into my Butcher3 to put back up the "no fly zone" around him, and I'll be doing that in the future.
One thing I will say about my pairing is that I like the overall cross-section of match-ups my lists covered. Although there were specific match ups I didn't want to see (I don't like either of these lists against Bradigus, for example,) I felt like this pair gave me a fighting chance against the majority of the field. I felt very relaxed during list selection (maybe a little too relaxed, as I made at least one choice that may have been the wrong one in hindsight,) which made the day overall much less stressful. I could totally see running this pair at 50, though the looming threat of Bradigus makes Irusk2 much more compelling.
For the Record...
...I don't think Vlad2 would have done that poorly if I would have brought him. My biggest worries were Earthbreakers and Stormwalls, of which there were zero all day. The only colossals to be found were Prime Axioms and while those aren't exactly a peach to deal with, I feel alright about trying to take something like that on with Vlad2. Maybe I should have just stuck to my original idea, eh?
Closing Thoughts
Overall, this was a very fun event, and a really insightful proving ground for the list ideas I've been kicking around. I managed to gain some valuable experience with Butcher3, and although I only played Sorscha2 once, I felt pretty good using her (which is a step up from previous games.) It was also great to play against a variety of lists that I hadn't matched up against before, and of course it was great to meet new people and play some Warmachine with 'em.
I feel terrible for forgetting the names of everyone I played, so apologies again for that, and I also feel bad for forgetting the names of the top 3 players (though I guess in fairness I didn't interact with them much during the day.) The winning factions were: 1) Circle, 2) Khador, and 3) Cryx. Congrats to the players who took the top spots!
I was hoping to do a little better than 2-2 (I had a good shot at 3-1; 4-0 felt like it'd rely on dodging some match ups,) but I'm also not complaining about how my games turned out. The two games I won, I won based on a solid plan and enacting that plan (so I don't feel like I "lucked" into a win for either,) one of the games I lost I could have won had I been more aware and thoughtful about the game state, and the final round was winnable with some different choices. I learned a lot about my lists and some new opposing lists, and that (combined with how fun the day was) makes it a day well spent.
The next Brawltimore event that I'm planning on attending is going to be on 1/24 at Critical Hit Games in Abingdon, MD. This one may be a little trickier to attend, as it's a small venue so it's going to be capped at 16 players and that means I need to try and get onto the registration list as soon as it goes up. We'll see how well that works out! Failing that, I'll be going to an event in February (and I'll need to come up with a second event during another month to maintain my 12 events for the year.)
The Iron Fangs managed to clear out the right side while the Nyss killed most of the things on the left, and Butcher cleaned out most of the middle. Kaelyssa ended up taking several shots at him over the course of two turns (one of which connected for 9 damage!) but soon after that Butcher got to Kaelyssa and chopped her up.
Round 2 Result: Win via Assassination, 3 CPs scored, maximum army points killed.
Round 3:
Scenario: SR2015B Fire Support
Opponent's Faction: Retribution
My opponent's two lists this time were Vyros2 and Garryth. I opted for Sorscha2 to try and avoid getting list locked, and my opponent chose his Garryth list. Once again, from memory:
Garryth - 35:
Garryth, Blade of Retribution (*5pts)
*Discordia (10pts)
*Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker (2pts)
House Shyeel Artificer (3pts)
Mage Hunter Assassin (2pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Mage Hunter Infiltrators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander (3pts)
Mage Hunter Strike Force (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Strike Force Commander (2pts)
I won the roll off and opted for second turn. My opponent deployed all of his models save the Mage Hunter Infiltrators opposite the enemy objective flag, and I did something similar (WGI behind my flag and objective, everything else opposing the enemy objective/flag.) Though I didn't quite realize it would work out that way due to Advanced Deployment on most of his army.
This game became a quick rush to the flags, after a very defensive first turn by Sorscha (due to the advanced threat of all the Mage Hunters.) She froze the Infiltrators, which led to most of them being wiped out, while the Strike Force torn down the Winter Guard (including eventually picking off the UA models and Joe.)
Sorscha made a run for the flag on the third turn, which resulted in her Dominating the flag after she Eliminators destroyed the enemy objective under her feat. Garryth tried to push forward to Sorscha's objective and Sorscha herself, but a large forest in the middle of the table limited his options, and Sorscha soon Dominated the flag again for the final required CPs.
Round 3 Result: Win by Scenario, 5 CPs earned, 8 army points killed.
Round 4:
Scenario: SR2015B Close Quarters
Opponent's Faction: Skorne
My opponent's two lists were a Rasheth list and a Zaal list. I wasn't sure which list would be better against those match ups, but I reasoned that the location of the objective zones (and the strong pull to put your 'caster/'lock there) made me go with Butcher3. My opponent opted for Zaal. His list from memory:
Zaal - 35 Points:
Supreme Aptimus Zaal (*5pts)
* Bronzeback Titan (10pts)
* Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Cataphract Incindiarii (Leader and 3 Grunts) (6pts)
Immortals (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
I won the roll off (it's only now that I realize that I won all the roll offs all day; go me!) and opted to take first turn. I deployed Butcher, the Juggernaut and the Iron Fangs towards my flag and the Nyss on the left flank. My opponent deployed the Immortals and one Ancestral Guardian opposite my flag and the rest was deployed centrally (or slightly on the right flank.)
This game became a quick rush to both flags. Zaal ended up scoring first by clearing his flag and Dominating, and Butcher responded by doing the same on his flag while trying to sneak closer to Zaal's flag. However, that left a lane open for an Ancestral Guardian to charge Butcher after spending a soul for increased movement, and a flurry of purchased attacks under Zaal's feat and Last Stand later, Butcher was dead.
Round 4 Result: Loss via Assassination, 1 CP scored, 13 army points killed.
Overall Result: 2 wins - 2 losses, finishing 11th place overall.
Event Impressions:
This was a really, really fun time. The PG who ran it (Tionas on the PP boards and the author of the Seething Ginger blog) did a fantastic job of getting it set up and keeping the rounds running, especially considering how much there was to manage.
This event was also the biggest event I've been to so far (I think the largest one previous to this one was a 16 person tournament.) It was very cool to see so many different lists, check out different people's painted armies, and meet people outside of my normal play group. All of my opponents were very pleasant, fun people to play against. Sorry again for forgetting absolutely everyone's name! Hopefully I'll remember if/when I run into any of you further Brawltimore events.
Funny Moments:
- My opponent in round one, sending in both Tiberion and a Bronzeback to kill IFP, then missing a preposterous number of attacks due to insanely bad dice (so many 4's and 5's.) Then Butcher3 fails to kill Morghoul1 with zero camp, but saves his life inadvertently by killing the Gladiator (giving him transfers.) Then Morghoul1 only manages to kill Butcher3 on his last possible purchased, boostable attack.
- My opponent in round 3, who seemingly couldn't miss an attack roll against the WGI all game (needing 8's the whole time,) while the WGI themselves couldn't be arsed to hit the MHSF (needing 9's with boosted attack rolls.)
Key Mistakes By Round:
Round 1 -
I made two mistakes this round. The first was that I got way too excited with making attacks with Butcher3 against Morghoul1. I figured it was all but inevitable that Morghoul1 would die, with no transfers and Butcher3 having 6 Focus to work with. However, missed attacks count for no damage, Morghoul is DEF 17, and average damage doesn't always happen.
I could have made that situation better by either a) attacking just Morghoul without using Flashing Blades (which ended up killing the Gladiator and giving him transfers,) or b) not activating Butcher3 first and trying to get absolutely any damage possible onto Morghoul1. I had three TAC nearby who could have thrown AoEs at his feet which may have put what ended up being the last few needed damage on him, and I could have just thrown any other attacks at Morghoul1 to hope for any damage to hedge my bets. I know damn well dice are fickle, cruel things, and should be mitigated whenever possible.
A much better idea, and what I should have probably done overall instead, is Energizer and try to charge Butcher3 into the open zone. Dominating that zone would have given me the last 2 CPs I needed to win, and I could have done all that without rolling any dice (with the War Dog nearby for free strike immunity.) I don't think I would have been able to make it without Energizer, but I did have a Vengeance move that turn I could have used to scoot me closer so I think Butcher would have made it there with those two extra 3" moves. Much more importantly, it would have been a safer option than relying on fickle random number cubes. Plus, more CPs is better in the long haul for tie breaks.
Going back another turn, I should have kept a better eye on the prospect of moving Butcher3 to the right zone. My opponent committed strong to the one zone (the best bet he probably had long term; getting rid of 3 Titans is no mean feat,) which left the other zone totally open. I actually ended up scoring during his turn because he couldn't afford to send models over there, and I should have exploited that opening to run Butcher3 over that way (even if not in the zone, near it but outside the threat of the Gladiator.)
The turn I had Butcher3 kill the Bronzeback and try to kill Tiberion I could have probably pretty easily killed the Bronzeback and scooted closer to the other zone (with the TAC to block LOS to Butcher3, though distance is the most important factor.) Sending Butcher3 when I did ended up being a tremendously dangerous move anyways, because the Krea was just hanging out nearby to try and tag him with it's Paralyze gun; if that would have hit, the Gladiator would have killed him fairly trivially, even with full camp (based on my opponent's dice rolls; I only lived because he missed an attack.)
Round 2 -
There's a consistent thread with Butcher3 that I feel like I had all day, and I'm going to address it here: my positioning with him, the Arguses, and his Juggernaut was pretty terrible all day. Time and time again I'd start the turn and realize that I had put the dogs in a location where they were either in the way, or (even worse) not at all in a useful position. I felt like those models were incredibly poorly used by me all day, and that's something I need a lot of practice with.
This game was yet another one where I misused the dogs and Juggernaut, though at least I was able to make attacks with those models during this game.
Round 3 -
Probably my biggest mistake this game was not making sure that something, anything was between Sorscha2 and Garryth after she made her run on the flag. I had Reinholdt and Sylys just kind of hanging around not doing anything, and I should have at least remembered to run them closer to Sorscha2. I was super worried that Garryth would just come through the tree line and shoot her down (though the dice aren't super-supportive of that plan) and being able to toss anything in the way would have helped.
It also would have been nice if my opponent would have run MHSF over to contest the flag; I was on lockdown thanks to Garryth's feat, so killing even a handful of models near the opposing flag would have been quite difficult. I totally flaked on activating the models at all, which was a big mistake.
Round 4 -
This round felt like a cascade of mistakes.
First: I think Sorscha2 may have been the better general drop against the lists I was facing. I checked both of his lists for Orin, but in hindsight Butcher3 feels kind of like a contentious pick against Skorne due to the fact that they absolutely will have a heavy in the list that can kill him on full camp (if not 2 or 3,) and the Extoller Soulward mitigates any of the cloud shenanigans you can try with him (either the Ternion or the TAC.) That may be better with a battlegroup centric approach, but trying to trade Khador heavies for Skorne heavies feels contentious. I'm not sure that Sorscha2 is a "lock" or anything, but she feels safer overall.
Second: I made a huge mistake by giving up second turn after winning the roll. I haven't played very much of Close Quarters, and I totally disregarded how important it is to be able to score first in this scenario. Scoring defensively on Close Quarters seems semi-easy due to the small area you need to keep clear on your turn, and by going second you start the CP trickle before your opponent (thereby putting them on the back foot and forcing them to be more aggressive.) Butcher3 can clear a zone with the best of them - just by himself - so scoring first and consistently probably wouldn't have been a problem. By giving up second turn, I put myself in a bad spot from the get-go.
Third: I positioned the dogs and Juggernaut absolutely terribly this game. They were ever in position to actually do anything during the game, put pressure on my opponent, or just get in the way (more on this in a second,) and losing out on that is a huge loss. Tying into positioning, I'm not sure I could have stopped him from scoring on his turn (he had Zaal, a Bronzeback, a Gladiator, and some Incindiarii nearby for clearance) but I probably could have made it harder for him in general.
Fourth: I 100% could have prevented the Ancestral Guardian from being able to charge Butcher3 - there were no movement shenanigans or anything in play (other than the +2" of movement from spending a soul) - and it was even something I totally could have measured (11" total threat range). There was absolutely no excuse to be in range of that, and even if I was going to be in range of it (I did want to put more pressure on Zaal's flag) I could have shuffled one of the TAC over comfortably to put a cloud in front of that Guardian. I totally brain farted and failed to recognize that threat, and I paid for it dearly.
Finally: I triggered Vengeance on the Immortals for absolutely no reason. Zaal put Inviolable Resolve on the Immortals turn one and I shot it off of them with Eiryss,2, killing one of them and triggering Vengeance. I didn't need to do that for any real reason (I didn't throw any more attacks at them that turn to capitalize on the lower ARM,) and the additional movement and attack it gave that unit hurt me pretty badly next turn with IFP that were either tied up or killed as a result. Similar to the AG charge, I totally brain farted and forgot that they had Vengeance - something that I kind of knew, but don't get much practice against specifically - and that was my mistake.
Things To Improve:
First of all, I need more general endurance training for these kinds of events. I made a ton of mistakes in Round 4 and I'm having a hard time discerning which were tactical errors and which were due to mental fatigue. Many events are likely to go 4 rounds (and it was only due to a pair down loss that this one didn't go to 5) so I really need to be able to feel fairly clear at least going into round 4.
Second: I need more practice against more factions and 'casters/'locks. There is a lot of what can be considered to be common lists for each faction that I have barely played against (if at all) and theorymachine/research can only take you so far. This is probably going to be the hardest thing to improve upon, because our local play group is relatively limited in what they play (and who can make it on any given week.)
Third: I need to improve my play with the 'casters and lists I plan to use. I have precious little experience with Butcher3, and I think it showed over and over throughout this event. I could have won my first game with smarter play, I was tripping over myself second game, and the fourth game was a total mess in terms of set up and execution. I feel more comfortable with Irusk2 and Sorscha2, but only slightly (since their personal presence isn't as big of a deal,) so getting more practice with both of them before any future events would be awesome. As with the previous point, this may be tricky due to how often my local group has been able to get together as of late.
Things I'm Happy With:
In list form:
- The two games I won, I won fairly solidly, and one of the games I lost was still very close. Overall, I didn't feel like any of the games was seriously one sided; I would have had a shot at winning both of the games I lost with smarter play and better pre-game decisions. Live and learn, as it were.
- The event was Deathclock timing, and in no games did I come close to clocking out. I was worried a lack of familiarity of practice with both lists and match ups may have given me "analysis paralysis" that would wind up with me losing eventually by Deathclock. Admittedly, clocking out feels like it's harder at 35 points (there are markedly fewer models in play, so the games seem to resolve faster,) but it's still a concern (and other players did clock in some rounds, so it can happen.) I've been trying to keep my turn-by-turn pacing up, and it at least worked out this event.
- Throughout all events (give or take the final one) I did a good job of scoring CPs throughout the event, which can be important for tie breaks in the long run. Of course, not losing is much better overall, but scoring CPs is an important thing to keep an eye on turn by turn and game by game. Part of that is also a factor of the faction I played as well; Khador is a faction that seems to be more scenario oriented overall (even Butcher3 is strongest in scenario play, with a threat of assassination,) so scoring CPs is important to success with them in general.
- At no point did I tilt over dice. This has been a problem for me in the past and it's something I've wanted to move past for awhile now. It's a terrible thing to do from an interpersonal perspective, and it's an easy way to waste time you don't have in a competitive environment. I ended up with some fantastic streaks of dice luck (either with my attacks, or my opponent's attacks) and none of those got under my skin. Hopefully I can maintain that in future games (competitive or otherwise.)
Thoughts About My Lists:
I like my Sorscha2 list a lot. I could probably mess with the WGI in some form, but Sorscha2 is such a good spot for them that I'd be hard pressed to come up with a different option (especially at 35.) They're also an easy include because I'm focusing that list on anti-infantry duty, and the WGI are one of the best anti-infantry units in Khador, if not the game (well, anti-single wound infantry anyways.)
The Butcher3 list I'm not so sure about, and a big part of that is where I feel like I need more experience with the big man. While I'm aware of the clever plays you can do with him, I don't really have the table experience to manifest those consistently, or at least try to set them up. That's just general unfamiliarity and inexperience though, so that should get better with more games.
Specifically for this Butcher3 list, I'm not sure how I feel about the TAC + Valachev. It's a good module, and I like the total coverage it gives Butcher3 a lot of the time, but I feel like I'm trying to run before I learn to walk a lot of the time. Managing the positioning of Butcher3, the TAC, and his dogs all so that they aren't getting in each other's way but are also in optimal positions to attack next turn (or keep up the cloud wall) is kind of difficult. I'd probably be better off with just the usual Ternion clouds + dog wall to start, and then I can transition to the TAC when I get more comfortable with that.
I also feel like the TAC are more applicable in a battlegroup heavy list. One of the issues I was running into with an infantry based build is that Butcher3 is such a big part of this list's power, so he naturally has to play aggressively. It was more difficult to manage keeping everything in front of Butcher3 while also keeping him in what I thought was a good spot. Many times I'd start the turn only to find that something was out of place or jamming other models up. I think it'd be easier to manage overall in a list where Butcher3 was able to hang further back and send his warjacks in as the first wave (while also using the dogs to contest zones, which makes the TAC clouds more valuable.)
I think I may like battlegroup heavy Butcher3 more overall, but it's hard to say. It's fairly easy to build a Khador list with self-sufficient infantry, so you don't need to worry about them, but at the same time unsupported infantry going up against infantry with any kind of support can run into a lot of trouble (for example: no support means that you just have to run into bad match ups and hope super hard it works out.) Butcher3 can at least do something for his warjacks by giving them additional threat range, and I like how that list doesn't feel as vulnerable to easy anti-infantry answers. I'll have to see if I can come up with a version of it I like at 35 points.
Finally, I gained a ton of appreciation for Madelyn this past tournament. I had her in my initial lists, but she didn't make the cut for my 50 point jank experiments, nor did I include her at 35 (mostly due to running out of points.) I had kind of written her off as nice, but unnecessary, especially since your opponent controls if she procs or not. While that may be true (and she is very killable,) I learned the hard way that a huge portion of Butcher3's melee threat comes from all the supplemental 3" moves he can get. Just Energizer alone usually isn't enough - plus it's a huge drain to his initial Focus pool - so you really want to at least be forcing your opponent to work around denying you Intrigue and Vengeance moves, instead of just allowing them to operate normally. I need to glue Madelyn back into my Butcher3 to put back up the "no fly zone" around him, and I'll be doing that in the future.
One thing I will say about my pairing is that I like the overall cross-section of match-ups my lists covered. Although there were specific match ups I didn't want to see (I don't like either of these lists against Bradigus, for example,) I felt like this pair gave me a fighting chance against the majority of the field. I felt very relaxed during list selection (maybe a little too relaxed, as I made at least one choice that may have been the wrong one in hindsight,) which made the day overall much less stressful. I could totally see running this pair at 50, though the looming threat of Bradigus makes Irusk2 much more compelling.
For the Record...
...I don't think Vlad2 would have done that poorly if I would have brought him. My biggest worries were Earthbreakers and Stormwalls, of which there were zero all day. The only colossals to be found were Prime Axioms and while those aren't exactly a peach to deal with, I feel alright about trying to take something like that on with Vlad2. Maybe I should have just stuck to my original idea, eh?
Closing Thoughts
Overall, this was a very fun event, and a really insightful proving ground for the list ideas I've been kicking around. I managed to gain some valuable experience with Butcher3, and although I only played Sorscha2 once, I felt pretty good using her (which is a step up from previous games.) It was also great to play against a variety of lists that I hadn't matched up against before, and of course it was great to meet new people and play some Warmachine with 'em.
I feel terrible for forgetting the names of everyone I played, so apologies again for that, and I also feel bad for forgetting the names of the top 3 players (though I guess in fairness I didn't interact with them much during the day.) The winning factions were: 1) Circle, 2) Khador, and 3) Cryx. Congrats to the players who took the top spots!
I was hoping to do a little better than 2-2 (I had a good shot at 3-1; 4-0 felt like it'd rely on dodging some match ups,) but I'm also not complaining about how my games turned out. The two games I won, I won based on a solid plan and enacting that plan (so I don't feel like I "lucked" into a win for either,) one of the games I lost I could have won had I been more aware and thoughtful about the game state, and the final round was winnable with some different choices. I learned a lot about my lists and some new opposing lists, and that (combined with how fun the day was) makes it a day well spent.
The next Brawltimore event that I'm planning on attending is going to be on 1/24 at Critical Hit Games in Abingdon, MD. This one may be a little trickier to attend, as it's a small venue so it's going to be capped at 16 players and that means I need to try and get onto the registration list as soon as it goes up. We'll see how well that works out! Failing that, I'll be going to an event in February (and I'll need to come up with a second event during another month to maintain my 12 events for the year.)
To help you out:
ReplyDeleteRound 1 you played Danny McGeehan, Round 2 you played Justin Cronin, Round 3 you played Jason Houser, and round 4 you played Josh Drennan,
Top three were: Gary Fortenberry, John Connor, Jeff Daniels, in that order.
I'm glad you were able to come out and enjoy yourself! I definitely was stunned to see you fight, essentialy, the two least played armies in our little group all day. See you on the 15th!
Thanks for providing the names! It seems like the same crew of people is going to be attending a lot of these events, so hopefully I'll actually remember them after a few more events. :)
DeleteThe upside of Skorne and Retribution is that I've seriously considered or actually played both of those factions, so I was at least familiar with what they could do. Though I was way rustier on Zaal's; I kept remembering a mix of Mk. 1 and Mk. 2 rules for the AGs!