NCL League Log

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Hi all!

Some may have read my previous Campaign Diary, which also served as something of an army log. The first campaign has effectively wrapped, with the Final Battle on hiatus until we can get all eight of us in a room together for a day.

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These posts document the NEW CHURCH LEAGUE (named after our regular gaming venue, affectionately nicknamed "the Church"). The NCL has ten participants, and will take place over nine two-week, Round Robin rounds with elimination finals for the top four players. Each player picks two casters for the duration of the League, unless they only own one caster, in which case they can pick their second caster at some point before the 5th Round. The match-ups, scenarios and any special rules are posted at the outset. Scenarios are from the PP Official Steamroller 2011 Rules. We should be wrapping by about mid-march.

My Warlocks for the League are pMadrak & pGrissel.

This thread will also document my growing collection of Trollbloods! I'll be keeping a post specifically for tracking my collection, rather than clogging up the first post, and I'll post pictures whenever I make or paint something new.

You can also read this log at the Trollblood Scrum!

Individual Round Posts:
Round 1: 21 Oct - 4 Nov PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 2: 5 Nov - 18 Nov PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 3: 19 Nov - 2 Dec PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 4: 3 Dec - 16 Dec PP Forums Pt1 Pt2 Pt3 / Trollblood Scrum
Round 5: 17 Dec - 13 Jan PP Forums Pt1 Pt2 / Trollblood Scrum
Round 6: 14 Jan - 29 Jan PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 7: 30 Jan - 12 Feb PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 8: 13 Feb - 26 Feb PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum
Round 9 & Semi-Final: PP Forums / Trollblood Scrum

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

This is the post for tracking my collection!

Here's where it stands as of 10 April 2012:

Warlocks:
Grissel Bloodsong (+5) Completed
Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels (+6) Built
Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain (+6) Completed
Hoarluk Doomshaper, Shaman of the Gnarls (+7) Built
Grim Angus (+6) Built

Warbeasts:
Slag Troll (6) Completed
Swamp Troll (4) Built
Pyre Troll (5) Completed
Troll Axer (6) Completed
Troll Impaler (5) Completed
Troll Impaler (5) Built
Dire Troll Mauler (9) Completed
Earthborn Dire Troll (10) Completed
Mulg the Ancient (12) Completed
Dire Troll Bomber (10) Built
Dire Troll Bouncer (5) Built

Units:
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes, with Stone Scribe Elder (Max + UA) (5) Min+UA Completed
Kriel Warriors, with 3 Caber Throwers, Piper & Standard (Max + 3 WA + UA) (11) Min + 3 WA + UA Built
Trollkin Champions, with Skaldi (Max + UA) (13) Built
Trollkin Fennblades, with Officer & Drummer (Max + UA) (10) Completed
Trollkin Runeshapers (4) Built
Trollkin Sluggers (Max) (8) Built
Pygmy Burrowers (Max) (6) Built
Trollkin Scattergunners, with Officer & Standard (Min + UA) (7) Built
Swamp Gobbers (1) Built

Solos & Battle Engines:
Janissa Stonetide (3) Completed
Trollkin Runebearer (2) Completed
Fell Caller Hero (3) Built
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2) Paint in progress
Troll Whelps (2) Completed
Troll Whelps (2) Built
Saxon Orrik (2) Built
Trollkin Champion Hero (3) Built
Lanyssa Ryssyl (2) Built
Croak Hunter (2) Built
Thrullg (3) Built
War Wagon (9) Completed

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

First round of the New Church League

For the first round, we are playing Gaining Ground, one caster, 15 points, no special rules.

Lists:

I'm playing against Cygnar (Blue Cygnar from the campaign), who has a habit for smack-talking. I decided I'd do what Trolls do best and smash his face in, so I took a tough-as-nails list that I thought would have what it took to deliver a solid punch through a hail of fire:

Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

He took a two-punch list with enough threats to keep me distracted and some nifty combos to get the boot in:

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)
* Charger (4pts)
* Charger (4pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Storm Strider (9pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)

Battle Report:

I took first deployment and set up with a straight line up the board, leaving the pre-deployed Storm Strider a little off to the side. He deployed pretty much directly in front of me.

Going first, I drove up the middle, mini-feated with the Runebearer to put Surefoot up, dumped fury on the Krielstone and kept Madrak behind the cover of Stone Scribes. The Earthborn hovered just off to the left, sheltering a pair of whelps.

Cygnar split his forces around a large building in the middle, peeling a charger off to go around and presumably run for my control zone uncontested.

I advanced into Cygnar's shooting range and popped all my defensive buffs to deal with Brisbane's feat turn. I put the Earthborn's animus on Madrak, put Janissa's wall behind him & the Earthborn (she couldn't quite get up in front of them at this point), used the Krielstone, etc. This put Madrak at an effective ARM 20, with two fury and the Scroll of Grindar's Perseverance to keep him alive for a turn of shooting.

Cygnar did as expected, put the front rank of Stone Scribes in a Foxhole, put Explosivo on a Charger and let rip with everything. Thanks to my ridiculously high ARM, I didn't even have to transfer. To be fair, Cygnar rolled some quite awful damage with the Storm Strider and completely failed to kill anything with it. I lost a couple of Scribes to Explosivo'd, boosted Chargers, took some damage on Maddy, and only had to kill Cygnar's Squire to get a direct line between Madrak & Brisbane.

Unfortunately, Madrak is a fatarse and failed to squeeze between the Earthborn & a Scribe which I had put in the way to prevent free strikes. I cut my turn short, leaving 5 Fury on Madrak for transfers. I'd dropped Surefoot to save Fury. Brisbane smacked Maddy with Force Hammer and tried to kill him some more, again failing but knocking him down. He moved Reinholdt in between Brisbane & my Earthborn to prevent some nastiness from occurring.

Madrak stood up, threw his axe at Brisbane, and feated. The Earthborn turned Reinholt into Gobber paste, shuffled up 1" with my Overtake move and pounded Brisbane into the ground to give me the win by caster-kill - my third victory with Trolls (though I've taken a few caster kills in multi-player games which then went sour for me).

Debrief:

I'll admit, I got pretty lucky with Tough rolls & the Disco Ball's damage rolls; but, at the end of Brisbane's feat turn I still had two Fury, which would have let me transfer to the Earthbon and maybe get him out of the way for my failed charge on Brisbane. I was quite happy to find that the list worked, but it could definitely have gone badly if I'd lost the Earthborn (like I did in the non-league game I played last night, against Nonchalance's Thornfall).

My caster-kill victory puts me on 2 League points at the end of the first round.

Next round, I am facing Khador (either eIrusk or Harkevitch), playing Close Quarters, one caster, 15 points, Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw.

[Waaargh]

This is a pleasure to read

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

This is a pleasure to read

Thanks!

Army Selection for Round 2:

Close Quarters is a scenario where each player is going for an separate objective area in the middle of the table; it might be possible for it to go all "ships in the night" if both players go for their objective exclusively, but of course you don't want your opponent to win easy, do you?

I'm most likely to face Harkevich, I think; eIrusk is probably best as an Infantry caster, and we're playing Mangled Metal/Tooth & Claw so it's Beasts only for me and Jacks only for him. I'm likely to face some tough nuts (he's a big fan of his Demolishers) so I've put together two lists which should be able to crack armour pretty well.

List 1 is pGrissel, made to run up fast & do lots of damage, but probably needs to go for the caster-kill:
Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Slag Troll (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)

It seems a little fragile though. I'm not certain it can hold my point for two turns while ensuring that I deny my opponent's. This list would rely on smashing at least one of my opponent's Jacks to pieces before he can kill anything of mine.

List 2 is pMadrak and probably best suited to clearing the objective with throws & smashy-face:
Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)

Tougher, but less models. More confident that this list can survive, but it's a lot less flexible and may not be able to deal with ranged threats too well.

I am as yet undecided, so any feedback would be nice!

[waite]

seconded, I enjoy reading this

I'd go with your second list here-- doesn't seem like enough infantry for a pGrissel list. It's true you only have two models but those are some tough models.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

I'd go with your second list here-- doesn't seem like enough infantry for a pGrissel list.

Well, it's Tooth & Claw so I'm not allowed to take any infantry!

[78Brad]

To be fair, Cygnar rolled some quite awful damage with the Storm Strider and completely failed to kill anything with it.

What was it a 1, 1, 2 or a 1, 2, 2 for the boosted damage roll on your Lock on Seige's gun on feat turn? The dice really didn't want me to win at all. Hopefully i'll catch your blue butt in the finals.

Next round, I am facing Khador (either eIrusk or Harkevitch), playing Close Quarters, one caster, 15 points, Mangled Metal/Tooth and Claw.

He is so taking Harkevitch for this game against you.

[nonchalance]

I enjoy these logs. Bring on Round Nine!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Round Two of the New Church League

For the first round, we are playing Close Quarters, one caster, 15 points, Mangled Metal/Tooth & Claw (Armies may not include any solos or units).

Lists:

I'm playing against a good friend of mine who runs 'Jack-heavy Khador anyway, so I'm expecting something of an uphill battle. It's a safe bet I'll be facing Harkevich, who has some tanky tricks up his sleeve but is the master of barrage fire, so I need something that will survive at least one round of shooting. I play it safe, and bring my brutal 15-pointer of choice:

Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)

As expected, (and who could blame him?!) my opponent goes with Harkevitch. What I don't realise is that he can actually run T2, which he promptly does. I have a feeling that the Tier bonuses will balance the fact that he's playing a point down:

Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf (*5pts)
* Black Ivan (10pts)
* Demolisher (9pts)

Battle Report:

I won the roll-off barely, which really set the tone for the night. Lots of really, really close moments which just happened to all fall my way. Both of us brought our A-lists, which set up a pretty epic battle (and it was, don't get me wrong); I'm not sure either of us brought our A-game though. We came out of it a little frustrated and probably not particularly satisfied with the ending. But Battle report first, angsty Debrief later.

I took second deployment, hoping to use the extra 2" deployment to my advantage. Khador Deployed in a lump facing his objective, and I set up in a line at the very front of my deployment zone. Khador put up Escort on Harkevich & Fortune on Black Ivan with his Tier bonus, then lumbered up. I popped Surefoot on Madrak, deliberately failed a charge, then riled & ran Mulg & Mauler to sit in front of him. This put me about 9" from Khador.

Khador had his massive barrage fire turn. Black Ivan's first shot hurt Maddy with blast damage, which I used to trigger Protective Fit and try a charge. I didn't quite reach, even with +2 SPD from getting hurt. Then Khador used his feat and shot Mulg lots. Then there were some charges; but Mulg survived, taking almost no damage to his Spirit track but lots to Body & Mind.

I decided I'd take out Black Ivan. I realised I'd screwed up a little when I missed a Rathrok throw and Black Ivan hopped out of combat with Mulg. Mauler didn't have a proper charge lane on Ivan due to a forest being in the way, so I figured I wouldn't get my axe-to-face off properly. I switched gears to the Demolisher, popping a Regeneration, shuffling around to the side and trying my luck at a 1-hand throw. It worked, and he deviated into the Mauler's charge arcs. Sweet! The Mauler charged the knocked-down Demolisher, got off a 2-handed throw for his Chain Attack and lobbed the Demolisher a whole 0.5" at Black Ivan. The turn ended with Mulg just outside of my Objective, but I looked like I was in a good spot to finish off the Demolisher before Mulg keeled over.

Mulg living wasn't so much the issue, when Harkevich cast Energizer (well played, sir!) and stood up both Jacks. The Demolisher sidled around my Mauler, bringing the pain somewhat. Black Ivan charged Madrak, doing quite a lot of damage but not enough that I felt the need to transfer or use my Scroll. This of course brought Mulg in with another trigger for Protective Fit, which did some hefty damage. I was happy to have healed his body track the turn before!

Between Madrak, Mulg and the Mauler, I almost destroyed Black Ivan. My last damage roll with Mulg was two points short. There may have been a little weeping! I left both beasts with 4 Fury, and 1 Fury on Madrak.

Khador then went for the grand finale. By this point we'd somehow gathered a handful of spectators, both of us were pretty tense and I think I may have shouted at someone. Too many backseat wargamers had me on edge. Khador Walked the Demolisher around my Mauler (taking a reasonable but not disabling amount of damage) to hit Madrak. Madrak was on 2 hit points, one Fury and still had the Scroll. Harkevich tried to get into melee but found the same problem I did last round; the gap between my Mauler and the Demolisher must have been half a millimetre too small to fit through. It wasn't my proudest moment, but I did point that out by trying to slide him through the gap and bumping both 50mm models out of the way.

He surprised me by hitting the Mauler with the Minister, using Beat Back (well played again, sir!) to put himself in the new gap and engage Madrak. Boosted attack no 1 hit, and got transferred to Mulg, leaving him alive. Boosted attack no 2 hit, and got scrolled. Boosted attack no 3 hit, and got transferred... no wait. What? In all the action, I'd forgotten to remove the fury when I transferred the first time. Then people started talking and I got confused, trying to claim that I hadn't used the scroll. Then we established that this was not possible, since there had been three hits on Madrak and I'd used up all my aces. My opponent offered his hand while one opponent asked "How did you ignore that last hit?" Knowing I'd probably lost, but wanting to go through the motions, I replied "I rolled Tough" and threw the die across the table. I rolled a 5 and we all sort of winced. I'd upkept Surefoot so he wasn't going down, although Karkevich had managed a crit with the Minister robbing me of my initial attack.

Then I turned Harkevich into red paste with the 10 or so Fury I could run up between Mauler and Madrak. I took my fourth victory with Trolls and my 2 league points for the caster kill. We packed up and left promptly, spending the drive back to my place discussing how weird the game was, and the spoilers for Domination.

Debrief:

So yes. Weirdly intense game with an awful lot of endgame. The first half was made of distraction, the second half was made of interjection. I think it took an hour and a half to play five rounds with only six models on the table. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it because so much of it came down to the dice, which were consistently close but in my favour. From the starting roll to the 1-hand throw Mulg pulled off (both of us rolled a 5; Mulg had one extra STR), to my one and only Tough roll, the dice gods decided they'd mess with my head but keep with it in the end. My opponent was not favoured, not failing any crucial rolls, just not pulling off anything spectacular. I really think we both brought our best, which meant that it really did come down to those rolls.

That being said, there were a few things I'm glad I did right. I put some thought into my deployment and could have easily lost on the first turn if I'd done something stupid like deploy Madrak behind my beasts. Activating him first, dropping my all-game Upkeep and then failing a charge so I could run Mulg & the Mauler in front of him was the first really good decision I made.

I learned only recently that I can spend Warlock Fury to heal beasts (facepalm!), which came in super-handy through the game. Between healing and regeneration, I re-opened about five damage tracks between my beasts. Only once did I have to make an attack without all the dice available to me, and that was a Mulg Frenzy charge against Black Ivan on the last turn I think. This was a very, very important thing for me to learn and is probably the reason I wasn't turned into blue jelly on Turn 3 or so.

I did run my beasts fairly hot, which is different for me. I reckon I made more Frenzy checks (two or three?) this game than I have in the last three or four months. At one point I had four Fury on both Mulg & the Mauler, but this wasn't a problem in the end because I set it up so that if Mulg had finished Black Ivan, I would have left Fury on the Mauler to hit the Demolisher if he Frenzied.

My second caster-kill victory puts me on 4 League points at the end of the first round.

Next round, I am facing Cygnar (Sloan or Constance Blaize), playing Capture the Flag, one caster, 15 points, Highlander. Any advice on facing this lot would be really appreciated, since I've never played against either!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Army Selection for Round 3:

Capture the Flag is another potential "ships in the night" scenario. Unlike Close Quarters though, each player's objective is just outside the opponent's deployment zone and slightly offset. I have really got no expectations for what I'm going up against this time; I've played against Cyngar before but not this player and certainly not against Sloan or Blaize. The Highlander format is throwing off my selection a bit, too.

So, I think I'll go with something I'm either familiar with or which will be simple fun. Although I've picked a few things up recently, I'm not sure that now is the best time to try and learn how to use them!

List one is made of nails; hard to damage and not fun to tread on.
Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Champion Hero (3pts)

The Mauler is always reliable and Madrak has served me well, and the champions... well, they're exactly the right amount of points to fill out the list. They're also very surviveable which has already served me well once against Cygnar - and when they arrive, they mit like Mack trucks. Mack trucks with two Mat 9 P+S 11 attacks, a Thresher attack and Skaldi, all of which I can buff fairly easily with Rage.

List two is a bit more complicated.
Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)

It's missing the direct buffs which fill out the Madrak list, but it has Calamity and Heroic Ballad, and Cacophony can only be beneficial when facing spell-heavy Warcasters. It's also got a fair bit of speed; between the Fenns, Hoof It and Transmute, it would not be a big ask to get most of my force up to my target flag and fight on my terms.

Of course, I've just finished putting together some Kriel Warriors and I'll need them for the Tiers-only round later...

[SevenSins]

interesting thread, and nice rep. close call vs hark there

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Painting Weekend

This weekend I got some painting and photography in, and since the fine lads plugged gave me a plug on the Scrumcast last week I figured I'd show them off (especially since I haven't gotten this round's league game in yet!). I also played a 3-man round-robin night and test-drove eGrissel, so I'll be putting in a little bit about what I found with her as well.

Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels

First up, my first thoughts on eGrissel! (Ha ha, you have to read things to get to the pictures! Or you could just scroll down... oh no! I gave the game away. Nuts, now noone will read this twaddle. Nevermind, it's too late now...)

So we all know she's got Dash & Inhospitable Ground and whacky Fell Blast thingies and stuff, not to mention a nifty model which is hands & feet above her Primal incarnation. This isn't a review.

I found myself with two buddies (Beaumains and Nonchalance) and an evening at The Church (our fondly-named regular gaming venue). We decided to have another 3-man mini-tournament, because we've realised that 3-player games suck a bit. They decided to run T4 Harbinger and Mortenebra, respectively. I agonised over my cards for a while and eventually settled for playing the models I know best, to give myself a leg-up while learning a new caster. It ended up being a devastating anti-infantry list:
Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels (*6pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

This, it turned out, was not awfully helpful against two armies of four 'Jacks plus support:
Tiers: 4
Harbinger of Menoth (*5pts)
* Crusader (5pts)
* Crusader (5pts)
* Crusader (5pts)
Avatar of Menoth (10pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
High Paladin Dartan Vilmon (3pts)

Tiers: 4
Master Necrotech Mortenebra (*4pts)
* Harrower (9pts)
* Reaper (6pts)
* Slayer (5pts)
* Slayer (5pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)

I won't go through detailed battle reports since both games ran pretty much the same; we played Close Quarters with the same table set up each time. I advanced swiftly up to my target objective and jammed the opponent with Dashing Fennblades on the left side, running 14" and charging 10". My beasts did the same up the right flank, moving ridiculously fast.

My second game against Menoth had a bit of a hiccup when Beaumains used Harby's feat to prevent me advancing - this stopped the Fennblades, but I spammed Flaming Fists and all my beasts & Grissel shuffled up, and I dropped Inhospitable Groud to prevent Menoth's Jacks moving more than 4". I got the charge both games, and took a turn or two of attrition before my opponents pulled a very impressive assassination run - with the Reaper & Harbinger respectively, after having to scythe their way through my beasts. I also forgot to feat (twice!) against Menoth, which was probably my undoing.

eGrissel herself mainly stood at the back, but when she got stuck in she performed pretty spectacularly: she single-handedly took out a Crusader in melee and her Quake shot turned out excellent for putting Heavies on their behinds. I'm convinced she's a lead-from-the-front kind of gal who can super-solo her way through just about anything. Dash is just there to make sure her boys (wussy man-whelps that they are!) can keep up! I also feel that I should be making more use of Inhospitable Ground - being able to engage the enemy's frontline and knowing that nothing can get close enough to touch your Warlock is just pure gold.

Next time I run her, she'll be bringing Champions instead of Fennblades, since they'll benefit more from her feat and don't need the same damage buffs to put pain on jacks; the only thing she really loses over pGrissel is the ability to boost damage output through Calamity & Heroic Ballad. The nicest thing about using her is probably that I have an excuse to fit a Fell Caller in her list - I've found running pGrissel that they just get in the way!

(Since I've gone over the character limit, this post is continued below...)

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Fruits of my Labour

First up, I present my painted Trolls so far, photographed on the first sunny day we've had in a while:



You'll notice that I've gone with the standard blue skin, and I'm glad I did - it's so much fun to paint! I also went with red for the quills and the odd piece of clothing, which nicely rounds out the "primary colours" look I've stumbled upon. I will confess for my sins that I use Citadel paints on my little trolls, since I'm an ages-old 40k player and I seem to have them lying about. I just don't feel comfortable brancing out at this stage and it must be said that Devlan Mud is the sexiest thing ever to have been made. I'm on to my third pot since I discovered it, and I've got paint from the 90s that I still use from time to time. It looks particularly good over the "tartan" (which is almost a canary yellow before the wash goes on).

Here are my painted casters, Primal Madrak & Grissel. I'm not particularly happy with pMadrak, I sort of forced myself to paint him since it felt a little silly to not have a painted 'Lock; you'll notice that his face in particular is a bit... gluggy. I think I left it 'til last and the paint on my pallette was drying up. I don't like the sculpt very much and I keep telling myself that I'm not going to be using him that much, except for the part where he's one of my League Warnouns and he's responsible for my two wins so far... hmm...



Grissel is a different kettle of scrounged up Troll feed. I really, really like her rules but again am not very impressed with the model. She looks small and lacks facial details, while there's no end of fiddly finicky bits on her actual armour. It took me three or four tries to actually build up momentum to finish her; she saw play for about a month just in her basecoats, which changed a couple of times (when I paint trolls I do so over a white undercoat, then I block in all the colours with their shades, then work each colour up through basecoat to highlight) - uhmming and aahing over which bits of pGrissel's kit would be metal and which would be leather meant that there were a few coats of grey or brown just about everywhere on her.



Eventually, I put together an album covering her 360 degree view and stared at the pictures for a couple of hours until I could figure out what bit was made of what, then went at it hammer and tongs. It took me a weekend or so, and I still don't like her very much. I'll probably end up using the eGrissel sculpt all the time once she's painted - the model is just that much better in my opinion.

Next (although I painted them first) come the Fennblades. I'm pretty happy with them, especially the Drummer. You'll notice the tartans (or lack thereof) are a flat yellow - that's actually Citadel Bubonic Brown, which I'm finding a nice contrast with the Hawk Turquoise I'm using for the Trollskin. I keep staring at these fellows and wondering who painted them...



(And this post has to be cut up due to the image limit...)

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Below are my beasts. Motley chaps they are, they're a lot of fun to paint after I've blocked in all the base colours. The Impaler was the first Troll I painted, so is a little sub-par (it took me a while to settle on a colour scheme), but I'm happy with all the others. I found with the Mauler in particular that, while covering every exposed bit of skin with Citadel's Mordian Blue Foundation Paint is dull and half-arsedly brushing Hawk Turquoise over same with a worn-out size "0" brush is torture, for some reason highlighting that by gradually mixing in Ice Blue and then Skull White is some of the most fun I've had with a brush in my hand. It certainly beats painting space marines any day.



Oh, and here's a Mulg. He's Mulg. He was surprisingly easy to paint, using successive drybrushed layers of Adeptus Battlegrey, Codex Grey & Fortress Grey on the stones, and some weird mixes of Scorched Brown, Graveyard Earth, Snakebite Leather & Dheneb Stone on the club. It definitely got a layer or two of Devlan Mud at the end as well, to tie it all together.



This actual weekend, I got around to painting my Krielstone & Stone Scribes, who I've been meaning to paint for some time now. They're pretty much as per spec, with the exception of their robes (Scorched Brown highlighted up with Graveyard Earth) and the gold on the SSE's scroll cases - they're Scorched Brown to start with (isn't everything?) followed by a very watered-down wash of Dark Angels Green, a heavy drybrush of Shining Gold, a light drybrush of Burnished Gold, and a very light drybrush of Mithril Silver.



The Stone itself was quite a lot of fun to paint, getting about eight coats of different greys (with a final thin coat of Foundation Paint Astronomican Grey) and the standard-issue mud treatment. I wasn't all that happy with it after the mud went on, so I gave it another very light, single-direction drybrush of Fortress Grey with a bit of white mixed in.

While I was painting them, I also painted up my Runebearer, since he shares pretty much the same outfit as the Stone Scribes. I also found him a nice break from them when he came round in the queue (I paint in batches, one colour at a time. It comes from trying to stay sane while painting platoons of Imperial Guardsmen!). I like the model and I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out.



SO! That's it for the pictures of tiny little trolls. I'll leave you until next time with the recommendation to watch Roman Polanski's The Tragedy of Macbeth, which is absolutely where I stole the idea of baby-poop-yellow tartan from.

[SevenSins]

nice paint job on those trolls, looks great

And devlan mud is a danged miracle

[78Brad]

I know you've played your Round 3 game, where is the write up? I needs to read it.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Round Three of the New Church League

For the third round, we are playing Capture the Flag, one caster, 15 points, Highlander (Armies must include One Warlock/caster, one Warjack/beast, one unit, one solo).

Lists:

We both take fairly straightforward lists. My opponent is a Cygnar player whom I haven't faced before but I know is running Kara Sloan or Constance Blaize. I end up not going with anything new or outlandish, instead running with pretty much what I know (exception being the Kriel Warriors, whose Cabers' smashing power I couldn't resist trying out in a league game). The list is fast, can hit hard, and has some shooting mitigation in the form of the SSC & Steady.

Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* 3 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (3pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)

My opponent takes a shooty/denial list - what the Long Gunners can't kill, the Cyclone can discourage.

Captain Kara Sloan (*6pts)
* Cyclone (9pts)
Long Gunner Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Gun Mage Captain Adept (2pts)

Battle Report:

I won the roll-off and decided to go second, figuring that the extra 2" deployment would be worth it for getting to the objectives quicker. My opponent deployed his Long Gunners in two ranks between some forests with a good field of fire about the central open area; Sloan and the Cyclone went on the flank closest to his target objective, while the Gunmage captain advance-deployed on that side as well. I deployed in a brick in the middle, Grissel in front so she could act first while the Warriors fanned out in front of her.

On the first round Cygnar moved up his long gunners and ran Sloan, the Cyclone and his solo around in a wide arc to go for his objective. I ran up, putting eleven Kriel Warriors in the midfield with Tale of Mists on them for a bit of protection.

Second Round, Cygnar moved Sloan & the Gunmage up, and kept the Long Gunners static to fire four big CRAs at my KWs, taking out three of them (I rolled pretty poorly for Tough), including one of my Cabers. The Cyclone dropped his Covering Fire templates to keep me away from his Caster. I JAMMED, using as many movement shenanigans as I could to engage all of the Long Gunners with Kriel Warriors and prevent them from shooting. The other KWs lined up behind what cover they could find in order to prevent the Cyclone from doing much shooting the next turn, and I ran the SSC onto my flag. With no enemy models within 4" I got a control point and, unless Cygnar could kill the SSC, I'd win the match.

Third round, the Long Gunners did their very best to get a clear shot on the SSC; they managed to kill two of the three Kriel Warriors engaging them (including my second Caber), but couldn't kill the SSC due to some poor rolling - one shot missed, one didn't punch through his armour and one only did three points of damage. For a final grasp, Cygnar took some shots at Grissel but I had a lot of Fury left on her and she either took the damage like a champ or transferred it to the Mauler (who was probably feeling a bit left out by now).

Realising I'd won, but not wanting to just end the turn and let the game fizzle, I Feated- since I really wanted to see what my last remaining Caber could do (just because he was the proxy'd one...). I put Rage on the Caber, Calamity on the Cyclone and used Fervor for the KWs' prayer. The first KW alone took out half the Cyclone's damage boxes, and the Caber turned it into scrap metal. My turn ended, the SSC was still on the flag and I got the control point to take the match.

Debrief:

Not an awful lot to discuss here; my list was solid, I used (ignored) terrain well, kept to the scenario and didn't make any screw-ups. Lots of practice with jamming Fennblades has put me in good practice for sacrificing my tarpit unit for advantage; the main difference being that instead of Vengeance I get +1 ARM and Steady - which is neat. The Mauler was almost pointless, doing nothing except supplying his animus and generating Fury. I've also learned that Cabers are fun,

The Stone Scribe Chronicler, on the other hand, took man of the match. I was thinking of not taking him and a third Caber and bringing a Champion Hero instead, but I really think I made the right choice in bringing DEF 14 ARM 15 KWs to the fight. AND he took the objective, which I probably wouldn't have through to do with a non-support solo.

We played another game as well (practice for next round), at 25 points, theme lists, caster-kill; again, jamming took me the match as massed bodies prevented Cygnar's Warjack gunline from getting through to Grissel, but opened up a charge lane for me to take down Sloan with Resounder. My Scattergunners actually did nothing all game except serve as meat shields, while my light Beasts failed spectacularly to do much damage. Lessons learned for next time...

My first scenario victory puts me at 8 points at the end of the third round, equal second on the ladder.

Next round, I am facing Retribution of Scyrah (Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper or Dawnlord Vyros), playing Incursion, one caster, 25 points, Blood Sweat & Tiers (Armies must be at least Tier 1).

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Because 78Brad is a naggy whiner, Round three is up here before it goes up on the Scrum. Consider yourselves lucky!

It'll go up on the Scrum 8am tomorrow U.S. time.

[78Brad]

Nope next round you'll be getting a forfeit "victory" like nonchalance and I have.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Nope next round you'll be getting a forfeit "victory" like nonchalance and I have.

Eurgh, really? Major sadface. I'll just have to do something else awesome for the Log.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

I painted my first lot of whelps last night. They're all done save varnish & front arcs.

Pics later tonight when I'm off work - I just thought I'd let the world know!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Check out these Whelps!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Apologies, the report's running a little late this round 'cause my opponent had to bow out and instead I played a 75pt 2-caster game against nonchalance's Cryx. I'll be attempting to put together a full battle report using the crummy pictures I took on the day, but it might not be 'til after Christmas at this rate - I'm a bit busy!

[nonchalance]

LATE?

Damn you, sir.
Damn you to heck.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Today I built a unit of Khador Man-O-War Shocktroopers, a Dire Troll Bomber, a Croak Hunter and a third Caber. I didn't paint my Earthborn because I played Fable for about eleven hours instead. Hells yeah, Christmas eve was well spent!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

My Earthborn and Janissa are both about two-thirds completed now; both need their skin and bases done, while the Earthborn also needs some Devlan Mud.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Round Four of the New Church League

This round took place between 3 and 16 December, but anticipating a forfeit from my opponent (he's been ridiculously busy at the moment) I organised to play a big game against Nonchalance's Cryx to have something cool to report. I almost got to play against Retribution as was scheduled but due to some technical issues with my phone we missed the window and the round ended.

For this special battle, we are playing Overrun, two casters, 75 points.

Lists:

I'm a little overwhelmed since this is the first time I've played such a large match. Overrun has a big control point right in the middle of the board, which pretty much means there's an inevitable scrap front and centre. I decide to go with what I know, bringing my two League casters pMadrak & pGrissel. Effectively I take two lists: Grissel slightly off-centre to crash through and smash face, Madrak to brick up and steamroll along the flank and deny my opponent a hiding place.

Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Slag Troll (6pts)
* Troll Impaler (5pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Kriel Warriors (Leader and 5 Grunts) (4pts)
* 2 Kriel Warrior Caber Thrower (2pts)
* Kriel Warrior Standard Bearer & Piper (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (10pts)
* Skaldi Bonehammer (3pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

My opponent takes a list full of chompy goodness. I guess I don't really know enough about Cryx list-building to really analyse it, but it has Banes, Biles, Bloodgorgers and the Withershadow Combine, which isn't unusual for Nonchalance.

Lord Exhumator Scaverous (*5pts)
* Nightwretch (4pts)
* Nightwretch (4pts)
* Erebus (8pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Lich Lord Venethrax (*6pts)
* Stalker (4pts)
* Stalker (4pts)
* Skarlock Thrall (2pts)
Bane Thralls (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Bane Thrall Officer & Standard (3pts)
Bile Thralls (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Bloodgorgers (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
The Withershadow Combine (5pts)
Bane Lord Tartarus (4pts)
General Gerlak Slaughterborn (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Madelyn Corbeau, Ordic Courtesan (2pts)
Pistol Wraith (3pts)
Rorsh & Brine (9pts)
Satyxis Raider Captain (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)
Warwitch Siren (2pts)

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Battle Report:

I give fair warning, this is done from mid-battle notes about a fortnight after the fact, so it's a little simple and not as detailed as I'd normally like. What can I say; Christmas was busy!

I win the roll-off and decide to go second. I'm a bit out of my depth and figure that if I see Nonchalance's deployment I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. It'll also mean that I can get to grips a little earlier, since I've taken a highly close-quarters list.

Nonchalance packs most of his force into the centre-right of the board, including both casters. Rorsh & Brine and the biles are on the far-left flank, along with the Stalkers and Bloodgorgers hiding in a forest near the centre.

I set up in two big blocks around a forest; Madrak and his brick of Krielstone, Janissa & Battlegroup on one side; Grissel with the Warriors, Scattergunners & Stone Scribe on the other. I put the Champions and Fell Caller Hero in the forest, knowing I can use Overcome to send them rocketing through on my first turn.

The Satyxis captain and Pistol Wraith use Advance Deplyment to take cover behind a building on the far right, plugging that flank.

First round, a Cryxian tide sweeps forward, with Soul Harvester going on Bloodgorgers, Dragonslayer on Venethrax, Ghostly on the Bane Thralls and an out-of-range Feast of Worms being sent at Grissel to put some rough terrain in my way. My turn is a bit more complicated: Madrak's brick shuffles up behind Janissa's wall, the Runebearer puts Surefoot up on Madrak, the Krielstone pops its aura and I put Transmute on Madrak & Mulg. Madrak has no Fury, but DEF 20, ARM 20 and the scroll of can't touch this. Grissel's crew rush up, doing the jam thing marvellously with the Kriel Warriors out in front (Hoofed it!) and the Scattergunners following up. The Kriel Warriors got Hero's Tragedy from the Stone Scribe.

Second round, during the Maintenance Phase Madelyn Corbeau pushes Gerlak Slaughterborn up to take cover behind a wall. The Satyxis Raider Captain makes a frivolous and ineffectual attack on the Kriel Warriors, doing little more than put her in harm's way. Tartarus moves up to try cursing the Warriors, but is out of range and I breathe a sigh of relief. Nonchalance moves up his Biles to threaten Madrak, and the front bile purges, not doing much to Madrak and his boys. The Warwitches both use power booster, one buffing Erebus and the other buffing a Nightwretch. Gorman drops some smoke clouds near Scaverous to block line of site... not that it's really necessary at 18"+.

The Withershadow Combine pop puppetmaster on Slaughterborn who then goes to town, mocking me mercilessly by using Crusher to pac-man his way through FOUR Kriel Warriors. He isn't knocked down by Hero's Tragedy because of No Sleeping On The Job, and I fail all my Tough Rolls. The carnage only stops when Gerlak runs out of stuff to kill. Then we break for cheesecake. It is delicious. Nonchalance has his with extra Troll Blood.

The Bloodgorgers charge the remaining Kriel Warriors and my luck doesn't improve - with two Gang Charge attacks each, the Bloodgorgers kill all of them except the Standard. I look over at my growing "Failed Tough Roll" pile in dismay. The Bane Thralls move up to support the Bloodgorgers but don't engage, a Scarlock puts Deathward on the Bloodgorgers to give them a little extra protection. One of the Nightwretches takes a potshot at Grissel to check range for Scaverous, who then casts Feast of Worms at her, missing but killing two of my Scattergunners and wounding the Slag Troll with the blast damage. Venethrax camps focus.

On my turn, the Stone Scribe Chronicler puts Hero's Tragedy on the Scattergunners and then charges the Satyxis Raider Captain (and kills her! yay!). Grissel charges and kills Gerlak Slaughterborn, and my Champions and Scattergunners have at the Bloodgorgers, killing most of them. The Mauler moves up behind the Champions with Hallowed Avenger up, ready to fill any gaps. I give the Scattergunners Hoof It to put some bodies in front of Grissel, and Madrak's brick waddles up, doing much the same as the last turn. I'm starting to realise that Madrak might be tough, but he's too far away to help Grissel at this point.

Third Round, things didn't go too well for me. The Bane Thralls walk up into combat and roll pretty poorly, only killing two Scattergunners and the Stone Scribe Chronicler. Gorman uses Black Oil on the Scattergunner Standard, blinding him, the Scattergunner Officer, the Fell Caller, the Impaler and Grissel. Uh-oh...

Scaverous uses Excarnate on the Scattergunner Standard, reinforcing the Bane Thralls and opening up some LOS to Grissel. The Bloodgorgers cause a couple of wounds on my Champions before some Bile Thralls Purge at them, killing them and hurting a couple of my Champs. Both Warwitches use Venom, one at Grissel (not affecting her but killing the Scattergunner Officer and opening a charge lane) and one ineffectually at the Champions. Scaverous uses Telekinesis on Venethrax, inching him closer to Grissel and I can see what's coming.

A Nightwretch adds its beak-gun to the futile attempts to destroy my Champions, before Erebus charges the Mauler, killing it. Venethrax charges Grissel. He has 8 Focus and 3 Souls, while she has 2 Fury... He makes 10 damage on the first attack, I do some transfers, but I just can't make enough Tough rolls in the end and Grissel goes down.

On my turn, a Scattergunner kills 2 Banes and knocks over the Officer, while the Champs beat on Erebus and tear off his right arm. Madrak moves up and lobs his axe at Erebus, before popping Carnage. The Earthborn charges Erebus and brings him down. It is glorious, but probably a better trade for Cryx than me. The rest of the Madrak brick moves up and takes position behind the Earthborn, staying close to the lake on my side of the field.

Fourth Round, Venethrax has 11 Focus and Scaverous has 8. Ouch. Some of the Biles pop, while the Banes swarm in behind Venethrax and finish off the inactive Impaler. At least his Fury dissipated when Grissel died, so Venethrax doesn't get his Fury. Clearly angered by this, he finishes off the still-blind Fell Caller. The Warwitch charges a Champion, triggering a Skaldi counter-charge. Of course, this means that he's in range to be targeted by Seduction. Which she uses, getting Skaldi to whack Madrak.

Rorsh & Brine buff up and have a go at Mulg, critting with Brine's tusks but not getting the Knockdown because Mulg's still in range to gain the buff from Surefoot. Still, between them they take out Mulg's mind & body tracks - ouch. The Nightwretches take some shots at my Champions but don't make much of an impact.

Scaverous Feats, TKing Admonia forward and dropping Feast of Worms on the Krielstone Bearer (I sacrifice a scribe to keep him allive). He tries an Excarnate on Janissa, but she passes her Tough roll (maybe my second or third save this game... grr!). Some Telekinesis shenanigans move the Earthborn & Skadi out of the way, and Venethrax's Scarlock uses Hellfire and kills another Champion. A Warwitch finishes Janissa off with a Venom blast, before the Withershadow Combine dispel Surefoot and kill Skaldi. Then Gorman di Wulffe blinds the Earthborn, just to ensure that I've really got nothing to stop Venethrax next turn.

On my turn, Madrak chops down a Warwitch Siren and smacks a Stalker. Mulg finishes the Stalker off, needing 5 Fury to do it.The EBDT waddles up and drops Transmute on Madrak & Mulg. The Krielstone pops the Aura to help keep everyone alive on this (final-looking) turn.

Fifth Round, Venethrax hits 11 Focus and glares menacingly at Madrak. The last Bile Thrall Purges and wipes out a Stone Scribe. The Pistol Wraith which had been sneaking around the back lines all game pops my Stone Scribe Elder, while the remaining Warwitch kills the last of the Stone Scribes unit. Venethrax throws two Hellfires at Madrak. I take the first one, then use the scroll on the second. Bane Lord Tartarus kills a whelp, turns it into a Bane Thrall, which hits Madrak and knocks him down. The remaining Stalker charges in and finishes the job.

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Debrief:

Ouch! I found myself thinking that a few times this game; when Gerlak Slaughterborn opened a can of whup-***, when the Mauler went down without a fight, when Grissel got munched, whenever Gorman dropped Black Oil, etc, etc. I think the only real win for me was the Stone Scribe taking out the Raider Captain.

So, lessons to learn from this sound drubbing? Well, the first lesson is that I should play more big games. I get the feeling that I wasn't getting the most out of taking two casters - I played as if I had two separate armies on the field, and they were just not close enough to work together properly. Madrak's brick was moving maybe 6" a turn, while Grissel's front lines were engaged on Round Two.

I also didn't pay much attention to Nonchalance's real threats - the Stalkers, Gorman and the Biles didn't get much attention paid to them. I spent a lot of time and energy wiping the floor with his Bloodgorgers, while I could have probably just sent the Scattergunners at them and ignored the surviviours for much of the game.

Erebus was happily traded for a Mauler who hadn't got anything done except been a Fury-sink for Grissel to upkeep Hallowed Avenger on. I probably packed too many troops onto Grissel's side of the board, where a unit acting on its own (say, the Champs + Fell Caller) could have been much better placed on the flank to distract Rorsh & Brine. I really put too many models in too small a place; the same way that Madrak couldn't help Grissel because he was too far away, the Mauler couldn't do an awful lot because he was stuck behind everything else.

We played another game which has faded into the haze (there may have been some of Borka's brew passed around), but I recall that afterwards, we were reflecting that one of the reasons I'm getting trounced by Cryx consistently is that Nonchalance is probably the person I play most frequently (considering he's a resident at the Church, this is no real surprise). I have a fairly consistent list-building philosophy (probably best summarised as "units+heavies=yay!") while Nonchalance tends to mix it up and plays against pretty much everyone. So, aside from League games I should make an effort to get in a couple more matches as often as I can.

The forfeit puts me at 9 points at the end of the fourth round, still equal second on the ladder.

Next round, I am facing Protectorate of Menoth (Feora, Protector of the Flame or Harbinger of Menoth), playing Overrun, one caster, 25 points, Paint to Win (If your army is fully painted, have 5 extra points!).

[SevenSins]

Big games makes for a lot to keep track of, thats for sure. And Nonchalance seems to have a good grip of things making for a tough game.

[PG_strangedane]

Great read - eagerly following!

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Sadly we're not quite ready for me to post the battle report for Round 5; it's going to debut on the Trollblood Scrum tomorrow (although I'm really not sure if Blogger works on Australian time, American time or Grenwich time, so the exact moment of release will be a surprise to everyone, including me).

To tide us over, here's a picture of the models I painted just for the Paint to Win battle with Menoth (+5 army points if your whole army is painted!): Janissa Stonetide, an Earthborn Dire Troll and a Pyre Troll which I finished painting at about 3.30am the morning before the game. And yes, I realise the photo is poorly-lit. I should put some effort into a proper photo setup at some point.



Check 'em out! Nothing I haven't done before, except the time-frame and the fire on the Pyre Troll - I layered up from white, through Bad Moon Yellow to Bad Moon Yellow/Blood Red, to 100% Blood Red and a light dusting of Chaos Black. I have to say, painting the fire was fun! Bring on the Bomber...

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Round Five of the New Church League

This round took place between 17 December and 13 January.

For the Fifth Round, we are playing Overrun, one caster, 25 points, Paint to Win (If your army is fully painted, have 5 extra points!).

For an even cooler version of this report with pictures of our fully-painted armies, check out the Trollbloodscrum.com!

Lists:

My opponent is the quite-savvy Beaumains, who is currently top of the league and resepectably good at this game. He only plays with painted miniatures, so he's already got an advantage on me since no matter what I take I'm going to have to do some painting to be able to get the 5 bonus points for this round.

With that under consideration, I write off an infantry-heavy list - have a look at my collection count and you'll understand why! Only my Fennblades, casters and some beasts were painted when I started thinking about this match, so I always knew I had work to do. After a couple of friendly matches, I decided that the thing I really wouldn't be able to deal with (if I fielded a take-all comers list) would be a 'jack-heavy list led by Harbinger. On the other hand, if I took a list tailored to beat this then I'd have a decent shot at winning no matter what Beaumains took.

So, I line up a serious beast-action list. Madrak goes in, because Grissel isn't a good beast caster. Then Mulg and the Earthborn make the cut, since they are big and mean and awesome. I flag the Pyre troll for inclusion if I can get the bonus points - immunity to fire is great against both of Beaumains' casters and being able to charge on Harbinger's feat turn is hilariously fun. I round out the list with minimum Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes with Unit Attachment, Janissa and Whelps. I toss up taking Runebearer or Lanyssa Ryssyl instead of the Whelps, but some theorycrafting shows me that I can get away without minifeating Surefoot, I might face the Covenant of Menoth (so the runebearer's out). I also realise that while Hunter's Mark is good, Madrak only has a 10" control range and charging out of it would be dumb. The Whelps go in so that I can run my beasts hot and keep them alive. This seems like a good plan.

It's also a list I know I can paint - the Krielstone gets done on my painting weekend, while the Earthborn & Janissa are done a few nights before the game. I finish painting the Pyre Troll the night before the game at 3.30am... for a 10.30 game!

Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

When I arive we compare lists and set up the table. Beaumains' list actually looks similar to mine, with Jacks to do the heavy lifting and some support to help them out. He hasn't run that Jack-heavy though, so I reckon I'm in with a chance:

Harbinger of Menoth (*5pts)
* Reckoner (8pts)
Avatar of Menoth (11pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & 2 Honor Guard (4pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal Mechanik (1pts)

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Battle Report:

I take second setup, figuring I can brick up in a way that will let me veer off to a flank on Harbinger's feat turn. My opponent sets up in the middle of the field with an open stretch towards me through the capture point. There's a couple of walls which help funnel the fight into the middle as well, and a nice piece of rough terrain for me to set up near. I drop a brick, with Janissa slightly off to my right flank to help encourage me to use her for something other than her wall. The Advance-Deploying Daughters of the Flame go right near the front edge of the long central control zone.

Round One, the Daughters sprint across the center, spreading out in a pretty textbook tarpit formation. Everything else moves up behind them.

The very first thing i do is attack! Janissa shoots & kills the centre Daughter with her Rock Hammer attack. The Earthborn goes next, charging & killing one Daughter at a price of 5 Fury (I rolled really, really poorly!) Madrak and the Pyre Troll both take out one each from shooting, I put up Surefoot and lay some spare Fury on the Krielstone, then everything else moves up.

Round Two, the Daughters get a buff or two and charge Janissa! I'm surprised since they have a clear charge lane to Madrak, but it makes sense since Janissa's wall and movement shenanigans could potentially screw up Menoth's plans righteously. They kill her fairly easily. Everything else moves up, Beaumains using the Covenant in particular very aggressively to deny my spellcasting. Rhoven and one of his buddies charge the Earthborn, doing a fair bit of damage and taking out his Mind and Spirit. Then he feats!

Knowing that I can't spam Flaming Fists and just ignore Harby's feat, I take a bit of time to think about this turn. I can't let the Daughters hang out behind my lines, and I know that if I take too long killing them and Rhoven then things will go badly for me. I sacrifice a Whelp and a Fury to heal the Earthborn and get him fighting fit again, then Trample through Rhoven and his buddy to get in touch with the Avatar. Neither goes down, but I'm fortunate enough that everything lines up properly for me to not take any freestrikes. Earthborn deals some damage to the Avatar but doesn't take out any systems. That's Mulg's job, and he scraps the Avatar with extreme prejudice. The Pyre Troll uses the lines of sight that the Heavies' absence opens up, and spews flaming oil all over the three remaining Daughters of the Flame. In a gout of amazing irony, they are burnt to horrible crispy bits because I boost the hit and both the blast damage rolls. I decide to be clever with the KSB and move most of them to the side and no closer to the Harbinger; the stone itself moves forward, takes feat damage and I sacrifice one of the Scribes. I am pleased with this gambit!

Round Three, Beaumains loads up the Reckoner with Focus and charges Mulg, dealing a fair whack of damage but not quite finishing him off. He's sitting pretty with four boxes left...

Yeah, not really that pretty after all! Rhoven and his buddies charge Madrak, but Beaumains' luck starts to go against him and between a transfer and the Scroll they don't do enough for him to really be worried. The Covenant moves up again and keeps up the anti-spellcasting tech (still no Flaming Fists spam, which makes me sad). Then the harbinger blows up Mulg and a nearby whelp just to put icing on the turn.

Since I needed that whelp for Fury management purposes, the Pyre Troll Frenzies and charges the Covenant. Again I'm faced with the problem of having minor threats in my face, in the way of me getting where I want. I charge Rhoven and his buddies with the Stone Scribes (making sure to give them the +1 STR buff) and in an amazing series of rolls, the nerdy trolls in the robes beat the everliving snot out of all three of them. This frees up Madrak, but some unthinking misplacement (I got to sleep at 4am, go easy!) means that the KSB is in his way and I can't charge the Reckoner. I chuck the axe at it instead, and because it's in combat with the EBDT and a whelp, I kill the whelp when I miss. Never mind. It's not like I needed that Fury management... Sigh. I pop my feat just in case the Earthborn can kill the otherwise-unharmed Reckoner, which proves to be wishful thinking when I miss a couple of times and max-out my Fury.

Round Four, Beaumains decides it's do or die time. The Reckoner can't take any serious punishment anymore, so he brings the Menofixer up and does a little bit of repair work, then shifts Harbinger around to smash the Earthborn's head in. This is... facepalmingly ineffectual. Some really poor dice rolls and a nearby wall mean that the Earthborn still has two boxes by the time Harby runs out of Focus. The Reckoner charges Madrak anyway, hits with the assault and misses with the Charge attack. Beaumains extends his hand in surrender, since the Harbinger's power field is down and a teenage girl can't take a beating from a 12-foot tall Dire Troll.

Debrief:

Well! Amazingly, I remain undefeated over the course of the League. This is a continual surprise to me because I tend to lose friendly games. It was a great game, and I think I played really tightly. The Whelps came in really handy (even though I had to leave them behind on Harbinger's Feat turn) for healing and Fury management. If I had to pick one reason I won (aside from the dice gods favouring me) it would be running all my beasts hot. Maxing out Fury on a couple of Beasts most turns meant that I had to make a couple of Frenzy checks (one on the Pyre Troll, which I failed when I had to charge the Covenant and one on the EBDT which I passed in Round Three), but it also meant that I could kill the Avatar of Menoth in Round Two before it could get the party started. While I took some damage on both my heavies, they spent almost the entire game within four inches of my opponent's caster, which meant that Beaumains' resources had to focus on them and that I could have Madrak pay attention to other things.

I also think that I'm learning the art of the Alpha Strike. I keep telling myself after lost games that I should have hit my opponent's strongest point as hard as I can, early. Apparently this tactic has a name and it WORKS! I was most worried about the Avatar this game, and throwing both my heavies directly at it really early on meant I simply did not have to deal with it.

In post-game discussion, we both were guilty of slightly sloppy placement; leaving Rhoven and a bodyguard in a position where I could trample both of them and get to the Avatar was a mistake by Beaumains, my placement of the KSB in round Three was a facepalm mistake and a couple of times I didn't pay attention to the KSB's aura radius and things were just outside it (Mulg was out by millimetres when he was mashed by the Reckoner & Harbinger).

So yeah, good game, close game. Victory through recklessness and good luck is a victory nonetheless.

Another caster-kill victory puts me at eleven points at the end of the Fifth round and still equal second!

Next round, I am facing Cygnar (Commander Stryker or Captain Jeremiah Kraye), playing Sacrifice, one caster, 35 points, Go For the Throat (This round, caster-Kill victories count for 4 league points, while scenario victories count for 2 league points).

[PG_strangedane]

Nice game

Keep up the good chronicle!

[SevenSins]

nice rep and pics. Close fought battles are the best

[78Brad]

Next round, I am facing Cygnar (Commander Stryker or Captain Jeremiah Kraye), playing Sacrifice, one caster, 35 points, Go For the Throat (This round, caster-Kill victories count for 4 league points, while scenario victories count for 2 league points).

It was Siege not eStriker. Silly Whelp

[EvilFuzzyDoom]

Round Six of the New Church League

This round took place between 14 and 29 January.

For the Sixth Round, we are playing Sacrifice, one caster, 35 points, Go for the throat (Caster-kill victories are worth 4 League Points, Scenario victories 2).

Owing to a pair of withdrawals from the league, my opponent this round changed from Cygnar? to Cygnar! Everyone who would have played the chaps who withdrew have been paired up against each other for the rest of the League, leaving me to play my opponent from the first round. Rematch time!

Lists:

Well, a Krielstone and heavy worked for me at 15 points, so I figure it?ll be a good plan to go with something similar (honestly I?d picked out a list already for my other opponent, and I figured it was something I wanted to try). I decide to forego the big tarpit approach and skip Kriel Warriors and Fennblades. Instead I go with a full unit of Krielstone & Scribes, a few beasts and some support.

Chief Madrak Ironhide (*6pts)
* Troll Axer (6pts)
* Dire Troll Mauler (9pts)
* Mulg the Ancient (12pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 5 Stone Scribes (4pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Stone Scribe Chronicler (2pts)
Troll Whelps (2pts)

Cygnar goes for quite a bit of le pewpew, bringing more guns than I?m really comfortable with and Reinholdt, who really is a bit of a star player in his own right. Ol?Rowdy isn?t really a concern for me, but having seen the Storm Strider in action (even if it did roll really badly in Round One!) I?m a little anxious when it hits the table.

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane (*5pts)
* Ol' Rowdy (9pts)
* Squire (2pts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts) (6pts)
* Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer (2pts)
* * Defender (9pts)
Captain Arlan Strangewayes (2pts)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1pts)
Storm Strider (9pts)

Battle Report:

I take first setup (after the Storm Strider pre-deploys, of course). The battlefield is fairly open, with chunks of rough terrain and forests around the outside and a swamp and building in the middle area. I take the side with more cover, and deploy with Mulg & the Axer in a forest on one flank, Mauler on the other and Madrak in the middle with everything else. Cygnar deploys with the Storm Strider in the centre, the Gun mages on a flank to run through the swamp and take pot shots as I advance, and everything else lined up with my lads in blue and the building I?m using for cover.

Turn one, I advance. I fling Rush around to get good speed, but I suck at Tetris today and Mulg gets stuck behind the Axer. Janissa?s wall goes in front of Madrak and the Stone?s aura goes up, with the Scribes spread out in front (three of them next to the stone for Sacrificing).

On Cygnar?s turn, he advances. Just about everything runs, the gun mages swinging out on one side to make sure they can all get a decent shot in. The only thing with range this turn is the Defender, who gets a Snipe?d shot from the Gunmage Captain Adept. He?s just out, and Siege drops a Rift to annoy me.

Round two, I advance and can get the Axer into a charge. Not so good, but I can at least prevent three Gunmages from attacking. Mulg follows close behind but can?t quite make the gap, even with Rush. Madrak keeps 2 Fury and the wall goes up. Cygnar makes this a worthwhile action, letting loose against my Stone Scribes (killing about half of them) and Madrak. He gets down to 7 boxes and the scroll of Grinndar?s Perseverance goes. Mulg gets a Protective Fit and I bring him up to engage some of the gunmages. The Stone Scribe and Janissa also go down, but I?m not worried. I?ve got things for the Axer, Mulg and Mauler to kill next turn?

Round three is Feat turn! The Axer has another go at the Gun Mages, not doing too well against their high DEF. Mulg, on the other hand, chomps through about five of them and I line up for a trample into Siege?s battlegroup next turn. Madrak lobs his axe at a Gunmage, while the Mauler hucks into the Storm Strider. Of course, I forget about the bump-back and the Mauler does little damage.

Siege feats, opening up with all he?s got. The Gunmages? Thundershot knocks Madrak away from the wall, dropping him to a pitiful 16 Def. Of course, the damage means I can bring Mulg up and whack some The Defender, Storm Strider and Siege all plug away, costing me the Fury I had left on him. One shot, one box and I make my Tough roll. Wooh! The Squire valiantly stands between Siege and the Mauler.

Round four and it?s do or die time. I can see my assassination run lined up. Madrak activates, throws a boosted Rathrok at the Squire to turn it into scrap, then casts Carnage. The Axer has a go at the Gunmages some more (I think I killed one, but probably not). Mulg Tramples through? damn, I forgot Rush. Mulg tramples into Strangeways and a Gunmage and turns them into meat paste, but falls well short of Ol? Rowdy or the Defender on account of the swamp he?s standing in. Never mind. The Mauler, undamaged and packing five Fury, casts Rage on himself and charges Siege. Despite packing a MAT of 8 and P+S 19, I completely fail to kill him, managing to miss on my second initial attack (losing Grab & Smash) and at no point roll higher than 6 on my damage dice.

The Storm Strider waltzes up and lights up Madrak like a Christmas tree. Thankfully for my dignity, I fail the first tough roll.

Debrief:

I no longer remain undefeated! It was bound to happen eventually, and it burns a little that this game came down to dice. I probably screwed up somewhere leading up to Siege?s feat turn ? I really shouldn?t have had to make that Tough roll and I probably could have prevented it. But really, if you?d seen the dice on my Mauler?s attack run you?d have cried. Simply put, I think the Church has decided that the Assassination Run is not a tactic that it approves of and it will not be rewarded. It?s just happened that way so often?
Anywho, whinge whinge it was the dice. Now that that?s over, what did I learn? Well, against a shooty opponent, I probably should have gone for a faster list. Less time shooting is more time axeing difficult questions like ?Where did your head go?? But then, is there really a list than can cope with so much pewpew?

Answers should be addressed to EvilFuzzyDoom c/o Madrak, 1 Hole in the Ground Crescent, the Gnarls, Immoren.

This defeat puts me at twelve points at the end of the Sixth round and third on the ladder.

Next round, I?m playing Cygnar again (really?!) (Sloan or Constance Blaize), playing Destruction, one caster, 35 points, Character Restriction (only one choice with FA: C is allowed in the list).

[Bartacus]

Awesome thread, can't believe I've missed it until now. Wish I had access to such a well-run league anywhere locally.