Event Recap - 50 Point Steamroller at Bel Air Games

This past weekend, I attended my third event for the Brawltimore circuit - a 50 point, second list optional Steamroller 2015 event held at Bel Air Games in Bel Air, MD. The event had a solid turn out (25ish players), and it ended up being five rounds of excellent games. Join me after the break for a rundown of the event, post event thoughts, and where to go from here.

Here are the lists I opted to run:

Butcher3 - 50 Points:
Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed (*4pts)
   * Berserker (6pts)
   * War dog (1pts)
Greylord Ternion (Leader and 2 Grunts) (4pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
   * Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
   * Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Fenris (5pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Man-o-war Drakhun (with dismount) (5pts)
Saxon Orrik (2pts)

Objective: Effigy of Valor

This is the same list I ran the last time I played Butcher3, and I like it. It's a more aggressive list than what I've been running in the past, and the dragoons give me some fast models to harass flanks/shooting models with. I also changed up the objective to give the Kayazy a conditional Fearless bonus; better than nothing!

Sorscha2 - 50 Points:
Forward Kommander Sorscha (*6pts)
   * Conquest (19pts)
   * Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Kayazy Eliminators (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Man-o-War Drakun (no dismount) (4pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
   * Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
Ragman (2pts)
Battle Mechanics (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)

Objective: Bunker

This is the same Sorscha2 list I've been running for awhile, and I really like it. It's nothing fancy - though the Eliminators, Ragman, and Drakun are more of a nod to how durable most tournament lists seem to be in my meta - but it works very well and is fun to run. I've been debating an alternate configuration with Nyss (that is very similar to Jamie Perkins' Sorscha2 list), but I am reticent to mess with this list very much until I either get bored with it, or I start to notice issues.

Round 1:
Scenario: SR2015 Recon
Opponent Faction: ...

Due to the number of players, there was a bye every round, and it just so happened I got it round 1. So this round was watchmachine and scouting for me. The good news was that there were plenty of games to watch, it counts as a "win" (though no opponent so zip for strength of schedule for this round), and it let me pick which list counts as being used for that round (so its easy to avoid a lock out).

Round 1 Result: Win showing up, 3 CPs scored, 28 army points destroyed.

Round 2:
Scenario: SR2015 Destruction
Opponent's Faction: Mercenaries

My first actual game of the day was against Justin, the player that has won the last couple of Brawltimore events. He switched it up from Khador this time and brought Mercenaries. His two lists were Ossram + Thorbreaker and Damiano + stuff I don't remember. I couldn't risk fighting Thorbreaker with Butcher3, so I dropped Sorscha2 (plus it opened me up to use whatever I wanted to for the rest of the day). He opted for his Ossram list:

General Ossrum (*5pts)
   * Ghordson Earthbreaker (19pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
  * Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
Herne & Jonne (3pts)
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4pts)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Harlan Versh (2pts)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile (2pts)
Taryn di la Rovissi (2pts)
Thor Steinhammer (2pts)

Objective: Arcane Wonder

He won the roll off and opted to take first turn. I chose the table edge with a forest in the hope of giving me some place to hide Sorscha. He came out of the gate strong (feat + run all the Rhulic stuff) while I moved up very carefully (and managed to pick off Harlan with a fortunate Conquest drift). The Earthbreaker floated some templates towards Sorscha for a few damage but thankfully couldn't get a straight shot. In order to stay safe (and freeze the Forge Guard) Sorscha moved behind the forest, which ended up Killboxing her (I totally forgot about it).

On his turn 3, he has a brain hiccup on when Killbox triggers (it only triggers for the active player, not both players) and commits the Earthbreaker to kill my objective. He ends up clearing the zone, but because of the brain hiccup he didn't move Ossram in to dominate (which would have ended the game). I barely (by millimeters) managed to get Sorscha back into the Killbox while also freezing the Forge Guard and freezing the Forge Guard. Conquest then kills the Earthbreaker and ends in the zone.

With no good way to get rid of Conquest, he opts to go for an assassination on Sorscha, which comes up short due to dice and distance. I then almost punt the game by misunderstanding how many CPs I have, but I managed to clutch it out by wiggling Conquest into melee with Ossram and killing him to win the game.

Round 2 Result: Win via Assassination, 2 CPs scored, 51 army points destroyed.

Round 3:
Scenario: SR2015 Close Quarters
Opponent's Faction: Skorne

This round I was paired up against Josh, the same person I played in the last round of the first event I went to this year. He was running Skorne again, with the same pair of warlocks (Rasheth and Zaal) though this time at 50 points. I was concerned about Sorscha's ability to cut through Rasheth if anything happened to Conquest, so I opted for Butcher3 (plus I wanted to get more practice with him against Skorne). He opted for Zaal:

Supreme Aptimus Zaal & Kovaas (*5pts)
   * Molik Karn (11pts)
   * Titan Gladiator (8pts)
Bloodrunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Cataphract Cetrati (Leader and 5 Grunts) (11pts)
Nihilators (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer (3pts)
Agonizer (2pts)
Ancestral Guardian (3pts)
Hakaar the Destroyer (4pts)
I won the roll off and opted for second turn. The first couple of turns were mostly running and positioning, and then as expected the next several rounds were us going back and forth, removing big chunks of each other's armies. He ended up getting a mega-slam with the Gladiator on the Berserker which managed to kill a bunch of stuff (including Madelyn) but left the Gladiator right next to Butcher.

Butcher killed the Gladiator and then feated back to full camp. Both of our clocks were winding down, so Justin opted to go for a Molik Karn assassination run with Zaal's feat and Last Stand. It took almost all of his remaining time, but he managed to get Molik Karn to Butcher and kill him with the second bought attack (right before the clock hit 0:00!) for the clutch finish.

Round 3 Result: Loss via assassination, 0 CP scored, 40 army points destroyed. 

Round 4:
Scenario: SR2015 Fire Support
Opponent's Faction: Minions (Farrow)

My opponent this round was Yann, Devilsquid of PP Forums fame. He was running Minions, specifically Thornfall (fantastically painted Thornfall, I would add). His two lists were Helga and Midas, and he opted for Helga. I figured neither list could deal with Butcher3, so I dropped him. Here's the Helga list:

Helga the Conqueror (*6pts)
   * Road Hog (9pts)
   * Road Hog (9pts)
   * War Hog (8pts)
Farrow Bone Grinders (Leader and 5 Grunts) (3pts)
Farrow Brigands (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
Farrow Razorback Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt) (3pts)
Farrow Slaughterhousers (Leader and 5 Grunt) (6pts)
Gudrun the Wanderer (3pts)
Raluk Moorclaw (2pts)
   * Buccaneer (3pts)

Objective: Armory

This fight was a total bloodbath. Unfortunately for my opponent, my estimate was right and his list couldn't deal well with Butcher3 + a horde of infantry, especially after Butcher killed both Road Hogs on turn 3. He fought back as best he could, but he didn't manage to clear out much before Helga was the only thing left on the table, at which point we called it (especially since Butcher was standing next to his objective and flag).

Round 4 Result: Win via assassination, 0 CPs scored, 60 army points destroyed.

Round 5:
Scenario: SR2015 Incursion
Opponent's Faction: Convergence

My last game of the day was against Jonah (I'm 90% sure that was his name) running Lucant and Directrix. I actually hadn't thought a lot about Convergence, so I opted to go with Sorscha, as I was concerned that Butcher3 would run out of steam before getting through something like that Lucant list. His Lucant list was:

Father Lucant, Divinity Architect (*5pts)
   * Corollary (3pts)
   * Diffuser (3pts)
   * Inverter (8pts)
   * Inverter (8pts)
Optifex Directive (Leader and 2 Grunts) (2pts)
Optifex Directive (Leader and 2 Grunts) (2pts)
Reciprocators (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Reciprocators (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
Reductors (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex (1pts)
Enigma Foundry (3pts)
Enigma Foundry (3pts)

I won the roll off and opted for second turn. This fight was another mega grind: I locked down one of the Reciprocator units with Freezing Grip all game, while everything else I had contested the other two flags. He kept hacking away at WGI and sending models at the rightmost flag (the one I was holding onto) to keep me from scoring on his turn, but he couldn't prevent me from scoring on my turn. After 5 turns, I won via scenario, with very little dead on either side.

Round 5 Result: Win via scenario, 5 CPs scored, 8 army points destroyed.

Overall Result: 4 Wins* - 1 Loss, 5th place overall (* = bye for a win, which is a dubious win)

Event Impressions:

This was another fun event, and it was very well run. Considering how long a 5 round event is (forever), the PG running it (steelhead jd on the PP forums) did a great job of starting on time and keeping things moving, and the Bel Air Games guys were extremely helpful in allowing everyone to show up early and stay late in order to get the full set of rounds in.

Funny Moments:

 - Killing the Earthbreaker with Conquest's initial melee attacks (one charging) under Sorscha2's feat, with Harm. A great time for some exploding dice.

 - Realizing that, by round 4, we had played every "Killbox: YES" scenario in the packet. A terrible, terrible day for squishy 'casters.

Key Mistakes By Tournament Round:

Round 1
Not making sure there were an even number of people playing.

Round 2
 - I may have been able to keep Sorscha behind the forest and inside the Killbox, but I'm not sure if that would have been possible (based on where I had to move her later). And even if it was possible, Taryn probably would have been able to open up LOS to her and then the Earthbreaker would have ventilated her. What I should have done that turn is push more things into the zone in order to make it harder for him to clear it. Speaking of that...

 - For whatever reason, I totally forgot to activate the Drakun the second round. That was a huge mistake, as it could have easily charged into the Gun Mages, or run into the zone to give me another model to contest (that may be been slightly tricky for him to remove, along with the WGI). Regardless of what I did with him, missing out on activating the Drakun was a huge, silly mistake.

 - On turn 3, I should have more carefully considered what I would need to do in order to get Sorscha2 out of the Killbox. I ended up being able to just barely squeak her in by walking around the forest (by millimeters) but that was way too close for comfort. I should have figured out where she'd need to be first, then go from there; if nothing else I could have Cyclone'd + advanced to get back in. Also, one of my opponent's friends (who was watching most of the game) pointed out that I could have charged Conquest (since forests don't block LOS to Huge bases) to almost certainly get the distance back into the killbox, without risking not making it back in.

 - I should have clarified my CP state. For whatever reason, I thought my opponent killboxed himself too, but in hindsight I don't even think it was possible (turn 1 feat + advance, turn 2 advance very comfortably puts him outside of it). And I completely flaked on not being able to score on the scenario zone without killing his objective (chalk that up to not enough experience with Destruction, Recon, Fire Support, etc). That led me to believe that all I had to do was kill his objective, then clear the zone to win. Turns out, not so much! I was able to scramble and get the kill on Ossram, but I still almost punted that due to playing out half that turn under mistaken assumptions.

 - I was very, very lucky to not lose this game to my own mistakes. Of all the games I've played competitively this year, this one has reinforced the most valuable, crucial lessons.

Round 3
 - I deployed to go after my opponent's flag aggressively this game, but I think that may have been a mistake. Without any kind of scenario pressure, this game kind of dwindled down to a last minute assassination scramble. However, I'm also not sure that could be prevented: he's trying to avoid Butcher3's feat turn, and I'm trying to avoid Molik Karn's. That "feat chicken" scenario was probably never going to let either of us really play for scenario until both armies were absolutely depleted.

 - I should have gotten Silence of Death out onto something (most practically, either the Kayazy or IFP). My opponent brought Tough infantry *and* Hordes, so not having Grievous Wounds out there was a big mistake. Especially since I did zilch with Butcher's Focus on turn 1.

 - I got seriously jammed up by my own army. Part of that was the terrain - both of us ended up kind of funneled into the center 2" of the table - but the other issue I had was not being willing to put things on the flanks. I should have put the Berserker on the left side of the table (near Fenris) and just run his dumb ass up that way. That would free up some real estate in the center of the table, it'd keep it free to try to contest the opposing flag, and it would also probably keep it out of position for the slam that happened.

 - I think I popped Kill Stroke a turn too early. I used it to try to dig out the IFP from the Bloodrunners that had gotten into them, but I think that was unnecessary. I'm pretty sure the IFP could have just cleared the Bloodrunners out themselves, with maybe some help from Butcher3 and the Argus. Saving Kill Stroke would greatly limit where Zaal would be able to move safely, especially with Grevious Wounds as an option; using it as early as I did left me one fantastic option down later in the game. It's a give and take, as the Assassins were able to accomplish a lot that turn, but its at least something to keep in mind for future games.

 - I do not have enough practice against Molik Karn. After the Gladiator dies, Molik Karn has an 11" threat range (in that list at least). I'm not sure if I would have been able to do it, but if I could have had it set up where Butcher didn't have anything within 4" in front of him (or at least 2"), I don't think he could have gotten Molik Karn to Butcher. I'm not really sure how the game plays out after that (I popped Butcher's feat to camp through retaliation after killing the Gladiator, so anything I tried the next turn would be heavily limited,) but at least I'd be alive to try it.

 - There is also the root issue: maybe Sorscha2 is the better drop into Skorne. Or at least, this specific pairing. I don't know how she'd do against the Titan herd, but I think she'd put up a very good fight against the Zaal list. My concern with her list is losing the Conquest in an uneven trade, but I have the WGI to screen against the Titans, and Great Bears lurking behind to kill whatever comes in.

The biggest thing is that Butcher3 into Skorne always feels like a massive gamble, because almost any one of their heavies can kill him (with the proper buffs and/or a little luck), so you really need to gut their battlegroup with him in order to be "safe". Conquest is the same way, but at least if it dies, I don't immediately lose the game.

Round 4
 - I Killboxed myself (again!) in this round, this time by wheeling Butcher3 too far out to a flank. I really didn't need to do it, but I was paranoid that Helga would miracle up some scheme to kill him and dice would come through. Probably being overly cautious, but considering how the rest of the game went it may have been worth not giving him any opportunity at all to get back into the game.

Round 5
 - This is more of something my opponent forgot: he never cast Purification with Lucant. I'd attribute it to it being the end of a very long day of Warmachine. My opponent was going through the motions of playing Lucant, and making the right general moves, but he forgot that specific thing that would have made a huge difference (and probably didn't come up any other time during the event).

Losing Iron Flesh on the WGI would have sucked, but I did have the Eliminators and Drakun over there to help buy time, as well as Tough on the WGI for a buffer. An early Purification also would have freed up my "free upkeep" to go towards Shatterstorm, which would have allowed the Widowmakers to clean out the Reductors faster, which in turn would have put more pressure on that right flag. I think the game would have played out similarly, though faster and bloodier (I probably would have had to go more on the offense near the end, just to thin out his model count).

Things To Improve:

Thankfully, this section gets smaller as I get more experience with these lists (and playing in tournaments in general).

The biggest takeaway I have from this event is that I need to keep a better eye on scenario. I'm very good about it when I feel comfortable (as was the case in the final round), but I can lose sight of what I really need to be focusing on when under pressure (in rounds 2 and 3 most clearly). I need to be better about keeping scenario in mind while also keeping my opponent's army in mind. That can be a very difficult thing to do, especially when presented with extremely threatening models, but it's also something I need to be able to do consistently regardless of the situation.

I, uh, also need to stop Killboxing myself, at least unintentionally. I honestly probably still would have done both just to stay safe/alive, but the kicker is that I didn't even realize it until after I ended my turn. Hopefully playing more will emphasize which scenarios have Killbox, and it will also drill into my head that Killbox is from all sides of the table. Its really easy to remember the "front" and "back" board edges, but the sides are...trickier.

I need more practice with deploying and moving my Butcher3 list. I know generally where I want everything, but I don't have enough specific practice to know where to plunk things down to get everything deployed in the right spots. I can sometimes trip up, wanting two things in the same general area, which leads me to have to shuffle things around and kind of jam myself up right out of the gate. Deploying quickly is also a Deathclock issue, so I'd love to be able to refine how quickly and confidently I'm able to get my Butcher3 list deployed.

I need to get into a habit of casting Silence of Death on something, even if it's just Butcher3. I fixed that mistake come game 4, but not having it out in game 3 was probably a decently big screw-up. There's no reason not to have it out on one of my melee models/units if I'm fighting Hordes, and it's also clutch if my opponent has any significant source of Tough/healing (as I learned when Butcher carved up poor Gudrun).

Things I'm Happy With:
I'm very happy with how the day went overall. There are plenty of things to improve on, and some (serious) mistakes to avoid in the future, but that aside I felt like things went well. Not just in the win/loss sense (though I'm certainly not complaining about that): I felt like I understood most of the match ups going in, the scenarios (give or take a Killbox apparently), and what my list would need to do to win (or at least make a good game of it). 

Thoughts About My Lists:
I love my Sorscha2 list. It's not "carved in stone" or anything, but I really like the way everything in the list plays together. Its a very versatile, effective list, and it's a ton of fun to play. I can see messing with a few things here and there, but I think I'm going to leave it as-is unless some slick new releases come along and tempt me into changing it.

I also like this version of Butcher3's list the best out of any I've played yet. As I'd hoped, switching out the Nyss for another melee unit gives the army a lot of forward pressure, which in turn limits how much Butcher needs to get involved (and/or how much my opponent can get to him). The two dragoons are a lot of fun to use, though they're also the first place I'm going to try to make up points when Ruin's rule come along (I'm hoping I can swing it by "downgrading" them to some combination of Eliminators/other solos). Other than that though, there isn't much I'd change with this list.

I did recently see Jamie Perkins talking about his current Butcher3 list (the warjack heavy variant) in a thread on the Khador forums, which is nice because I don't know that I've seen the exact list that he/Trent Denison came up with. For the record, here's Jamie's version:

Kommander Zoktavir, The Butcher Unleashed (*4pts)
   * Juggernaut (7pts)
   * Juggernaut (7pts)
   * Spriggan (10pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
   * Black Dragon Officer & Standard (2pts)
Widowmakers (Leader and 3 Grunts) (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Iron Fang Kovnik (2pts)
Koldun Lord (2pts)
Ragman (2pts)
Raluk Moorclaw (2pts)
   * Vanguard (5pts)

I say "Jamie's version" because, based on what I've heard, he's loving the Moorclaw + Vanguard combo. I'm not sure if I would keep that (those 7 points could get you a lot of stuff, though you'd still almost certainly want to work a Shield Guard back in, so only 4 points) but it is a very interesting list. I'll probably try it out for a few games, though that may be awhile from now.

For the Record...

DEF 12 infantry is the most satisfying infantry to be attacking. Eiryss and the Kayazy were sticking attacks with 3's left and right, and Sorscha's Freezing Grip game against multi-wound, DEF 12 infantry is very, very good.

Closing Thoughts:

Overall, I'm very happy with how the day went. Actually counting games played, I still ended the day at 3-1, which is the best I've done so far out of any four game set. The bye is kind of unfortunate and throws everything off for me (with that one phantom win feeling very unearned) but there isn't much to be done about that other than focus on the games played.

The Brawltimore march continues, with February now behind us. I'm debating going to the 50 point Steamroller event at GadCon, though that's also two events back to back, which is a bit brutal. This may be a smaller event though ("only" maybe 20 people), so if it's not another 12 hour day, I may be able to survive doing two in consecutive weeks. The alternate plan is a 35 point event on March 15th (again at Bel Air Games), which would be nicely spaced out, but also the point total I don't like as much.

I think I'm going to just suck it up and go to GadCon, if for no other reason than I'm stunned there as gaming convention in Aberdeen, Maryland. Then I can take the rest of the month off and work on Convergence (after much pinning and cleaning, the Prime Axiom is almost done).

As always, thanks very much for reading!