15 pts: Jarl Skuld v. Baldur the Stonecleaver

[traeplien]

15 Points ? Jarl Skuld v. Baldur the Stonecleaver

Lists
Jarl?s Force (Mine):
Jarl Skuld
Troll Impaler
Dire Troll Blitzer
6 Fennblades
Fennblade UA

Baldur?s Force:
Baldur
Argus
Woldwarden
10 Wolves of Orboros
Wolves of Orboros UA

Deployment



I won the roll and opted to deploy first. Jarl was placed at the front edge of his deployment zone along the left half of the hill. The Blitzer was placed directly to his right, with the Impaler centered behind them about 2? back. The Fennblades were deployed in ranks of three, two, and three on the right half of the hill and in the open ground between the hill and the river.

My opponent deployed Baldur and the Argus on the hill, with the Woldwarden to the right of the hill (from this perspective) and the Wolves partially in the open and partially in the forest.

Turn 1

My goal at this point is to take the city gate, and hold it with my Fennblades to cause some damage while I set up a solid ranged game within the city itself. I figure if I can get to an advantageous position, I can pop Jarl?s feat and get the heck out of there if need be, or swamp the whole area in fog and go for the assassination run.

Jarl activates, casts Quicken on himself and Tactical Supremacy on the Blitzer, then runs up and through the city gate, ending his move facing outside. The Blitzer riles for three fury and runs up in front of the gate. Impaler riles for one and runs up behind the Blitzer, a few inches back. Fennblades run toward the gate, the Blitzer advances 3? closer to the rocks outside the gate, and I pass the turn.

His Wolves run up into the forest and end their activation. Woldwarden moves closer to them, uses Geomancy to cast Stone Skin on the Wolves, and forces for Wild Growth. The Argus moves up, uses Tracker on the Wold, and riles for two extra fury. Baldur then activates, moves down between the hill and the rock, and casts Rapid Growth, Solid Ground, and Stone Skin on himself before using his feat and then passing the turn.

Turn 2

Jarl leeches four Fury from the Blitzer, and I realize that I didn?t totally deplete him, so he can only leech one from the Impaler. ?No big deal, he?s threshold 9? I say to myself, and proceed to roll double 6?s. The Impaler charges and kills the nearest Fennblade, who fails his Tough roll. While not a great influence on my tactics at this point, I see a golden opportunity to do some serious damage to Baldur. New goal: assassinate, and if it doesn?t work this turn, pop feat and do it next turn!

I activate the Fennblades, moving them out to intercept the Wolves coming at my flank; I then activate Jarl, move out to get a clear line of sight to Baldur, cast Far Strike off the Impaler for good measure (wasn?t needed at this point, but I wanted to be sure), and fired two boosted Rune Pistol shots into the Stonecleaver. First hits, boosted damage does a few points. Boost the second shot, boost the damage, do a few more points. If my damage rolls had been switched with my attack rolls, Baldur would have been done by now. But, no dice (no pun intended); so, I end my activation and move on to the Blitzer. Blitzer moves up to block LoS to Jarl, and I roll d3 for the slugger. Comes up ?6?! With some good rolling, I can end this now. Boost the first attack roll ? hits, boosts for pretty solid damage, but not enough. Second attack roll boosted to hit, hits, boosted damage barely does anything. Baldur has two damage left, and now it?s his turn.

Baldur leeches 6 fury, then activates, throwing two Earth Spikes into my Dire Troll. Sadly, Jarl is just within range of the blast. First spell hits, no crit, and fails to damage either model. Second spell hits with double 5?s, fails to damage either model, but both are knocked down. Baldur then moves back along the ridge line and ends his activation. Woldwarden casts Stone Skin via Geomancy on Baldur again, then moves up and drops Wild Growth again. The Argus moves up to the lower level of the ridge, and uses Tracker on the Wold again before ending its activation. Wolves unit activates, charges my Fennblades, but is only close enough to get attacks against one of them. First attack misses, second one hits and beats armor; I make my Tough roll, but am now knocked down. The next Wolf tears through my armor as well, and the Fennblade again holds on with a ?6?! However, he wasn?t meant to live, as the next Wolf goes through his armor and I finally fail a Tough check. With that, he ends his turn.

Turn 3

I still have a shot at Baldur, albeit with concealment, so I figure I might as well finish the assassination this turn. It?s gonna take some maneuvering though. Good thing that?s Jarl?s specialty!

I leech four Fury from the Blitzer, then make my vengeance moves and attacks with my Fennblades, killing two Wolves. Next I activate Jarl and use his feat, rolling another ?6?! I place a line of clouds on a straight path to Baldur, and another group of clouds on top of the Fenblade/Wolf skirmish. Jarl then moves up through the clouds, past the Bliter, and into a firing lane with Baldur. Boosted attack roll hits, boosted damage roll well exceeds his armor, and Baldur goes down.

Thoughts

Overall, I was really happy with this battle. Other than the fury management issue on the first turn, I think I avoided play errors fairly well. Had my opponent kept Baldur back and not allowed me line of sight to him, the game could have gone very differently, and most definitely not as quickly. This is my first time using Jarl, and I have to say, he?s a lot of fun. I think I?ll be continuing to use the Devil of Thornwood in bigger games, maybe try out his theme list a little.

Thanks for reading!

[perilsensitive]

That's some impressive attack rolls to hit DEF 18 Baldur on his feat turn.

[traeplien]

It's not too bad for Jarl, only needs to be about average. But, I was rolling hot for the Blitzer, both of his boosted attack rolls had double 6's in them. Of course, the third one missed by a mile =P

[JJMJester]

Cool Battle Report and I just want to comment that the Terrain set-up you guys were using is awesome!

[traeplien]

Thanks! Most of the people who play at our shop tend to use a lot of terrain over just a little, it seems to make the games a bit more fun and dynamic.