For this game I just brought my standard Merc infantry with a couple of cheap jacks and some solos. I did try to prioritise playing models that are actually painted, like Alexia and Sylyss. Also I figured I should really play Old Grim; he's the last WMH model I painted but I never got a chance to use him.
Khador Unlimited 50pts
Strakhov 1
-Juggernaut
-Marauder
-Sylyss
Alexia & the Risen
Cylena & the Nyss
Croe & the Cutthroats
Jolly Ol' Saint Grim
*Blessing of the Gods
*Grave Robbing
*Hit & Run
*Old Faithful
*Power Swell
Karas had picked up the Mk4 Cygnar Storm Legion starter.
Storm Legion 50pts
Athena 1 (Electrify, Jackhammer)
-Stryker (Plasma Nimbus, Voltaic Javelin, Space Marine Power Fist)
-Courser (Shield Guard, Mag-Bolter, Electrified Shield)
Stormguard Legionnaires
-Standard Bearer
Tempest Thunderers
Arcane Mechaniks
Legionnaire Officer
*Hit & Run
*Infiltration
*Old Faithful
*Power Swell
*True Inspiration
Pre-Game:
We wanted to get straight into it so we tossed some mousemat terrain on the table, put down a couple of buildings, and settled for a basic caster-kill game. I won the roll and chose to go first.
Deployment:
The buildings essentially split the table into three lanes. I wanted Strakhov to be somewhat central, but positioned Ol' Grim to apply pressure from a flank. I chose to not to ambush my units, relying on advanced deployment instead. After Karas bricked up in the center I kept my infantry relatively central as well. Cutthroats declared Prey on the Thunderers.
Round 1:
Strakhov cast Assail on the Marauder, and Return Fire on himself. I played Grave Robbing on Alexia, who advanced and crafted a Thrall. Everything else just ran.
Karas moved his entire army laterally, hiding behind a forest. Athena put Hallowed Avenger on the Courser, and Electrify on the Striker.
Round 2:
Strakhov Feated and ran. Alexia crafted another Thrall. Everything ran forwards while staying in Feat range.
In true Cygnar fashion, Karas moved all his models backwards.
Round 3:
I pushed further up. Cast Return Fire on Strakhov again. Ol' Grim killed a couple of Legionnaires and claimed their souls. The Nyss killed two more. Alexia crafted a Thrall.
Athena popped her Feat. The Legionnaire Officer killed Old Grim. The remaining Legionnaires put some damage on the Juggernaut, wiping out the Nyss with the AOEs. Something else shot the Juggernaut but finished off the Legionnaires with AOEs or Electroleaps or something. The Courser did some more damage, then the Striker finished off the Juggernaut, and also shot down Alexia. Which was annoying; she had like 6 or 7 corpse tokens on her at this point.
Round 4:
This was the second turn I had failed to keep Sylyss in range to give Strakhov a free upkeep. Oh well. Strakhov loaded up the Marauder, then cast Hand Of Destruction on the Striker with a boosted attack roll and Arcane Secrets. Being under Athena's feat meant I rolled 5 dice and dropped the lowest AND the highest. The spell hit. I then rolled two shots on Strakhov's Riot Gun; with no focus left to boost, the attack and damage rolls were four dice each, dropping lowest and highest. This did some damage, then Strakhov repo'd backwards. After this the Marauder charged in. Because of Electrify's Repulsor Field, I decided to go for the combo-smite. Sadly the Marauder lost the +4 damage on the Combo Smite in Mk4, which... actually kind a makes him a MUCH less attractive choice now than he was before. I boosted the attack and damage rolls, so again I was rolling 5 dice and dropping two. The Striker's left arm was crippled, but that was about it. The Cutthroats charged in, but were only able to kill one Mechanik. This triggered Hallowed Avenger on the Courser, so I ran a Thrall to box him in. The other two thralls moved up to be in charge range next turn, and the Risen put themselves in front of Strakhov.
Everyting piled into the Marauder. Somehow the Courser actually managed to miss an attack...
Round 5:
Strakhov used Power Swell for a focus and moved up to get LOS on Athena. She was in a trench and in base contact with the Courser, putting her at DEF 18 ARM 19. I cast a boosted Hand of Destruction, but it missed. I rolled three shots on the Riot Gun; the first boosted attack hit but was shield-guarded by the Courser. The next two missed. I cast Convection and missed.
Post-Mortem:
I think we played much better than last time, I felt more confident about my understanding of the rules; I think we still made mistakes, but probably less than last time. Not playing a scenario obviously was an issue, but we both played to our faction's characters: I charged forwards agressively as befits a Khadoran while Karas cowered in the corner like a typical Cygnaran.
I still can't believe how much they changed Strakhov. He's a completely different model now. I don't think he's bad or anything; he has some good tools, and a LOT of rules on his own card. But he's lost a lot of the things I liked about him in Mk2 and Mk3. He just feels a bit boring now; he has a basic warjack speed buff, a single-target debuff, a mostly-defensive feat, and a good gun with some rules and stats to allow him to use it. It's just not that interesting; he doesn't make his army dance around like he used to, he won't wreck face like a Butcher or a Karchev... I dunno. I just don't feal anything when I read his card.
I'm going to stick with Strakhov 1 for now; he'll probably work better when playing a scenario. I'll make iterative changes to my army as is my preference, rather than changing the whole list all at once. This is also partly because I do want to try to put painted models on the table. Unfortunately my painting queue is a little full right now with non-WMH stuff, but hopefully later in the year I'll be able to get some Khador stuff painted and start to run some new lists.\
No comments:
Post a Comment