Apes Improvise Armaments

For some reason I had an easier time with this bunch than with the previous batch. I wanted to try some different colours on these guys, giving them darker fur and a slightly different leather colour, though I stuck with the same green for the armour. As I was working on them I realised one had a very bad miscast on his left arm. Rather than wait for a replacement, I decided to give him a hook, which would mark him as the leader. I had a really hard time deciding on a colour for the guns. I wanted a military colour, and was thinking about using a khaki/tan like I had on my GUARD's units as the weapons are clearly repurposed from human militaries. However a jungle green felt more fitting for some reason, though I was worried about the guns not standing out from the armour in that case. I tested several colours before deciding on a dark, almost brownish green.

Citadel Foundation Gretchen Green, Formula P3 Battledress Green, Citadel Foundation Knarloc Green, Citadel Base Castellan Green

Ape Gunners:
After priming with Vallejo 73.660 Surface Primer Gloss Black then P3 Menoth White Highlight, I basecoated in Vallejo 72.730 Game Air Goblin Green.

This time I used Green Stuff World 1832 Redwood Brown for the fur, which I drybrushed with Formula P3 Rucksack Tan. The skin was the same Vallejo 70.992 Model Color Neutral Grey, roughly highlighted with Vallejo 71.132 Model Air Aged White. After picking out the fingernails with Aged White (iirc), and painting the eyes with Menoth White Highlight (thinned with P3 Mixing Medium and water) and Redwood Brown (thinned with Mixing Medium), I glazed the skin and eyes with Citadel Shade Seraphim Sepia.

For the leather this time I wanted to try my new Formula P3 Bogrin Brown. I was worried it might be too rich, but I think it came out nicely. For the brass fittings I applied Citadel Layer Gehenna's Gold over the same brown. The goggle lenses were the same mix of Green Stuff World 1872 Metal Color Neptunus Blue and Scalecolor SC-66 Speed Metal that I used for previous apes. The spare ammo was simply Citadel Base Mephiston Red; I didn't want to go brighter as I didn't want to draw attention away from the rest of the model.

The colour I finally settled on for the field guns was Citadel Base Castellan Green. The metal bits were Citadel Base Leadbeltcher, and the tires were Vallejo 70.862 Model Color Black Grey.

After all that I dipped the models in The Army Painter Quickshade Dip Dark Tone, carefully mopping up the excess with a brush, then airbrushing on Vallejo 26.518 Acrylic Varnish Matt after the dip had dried. I was a bit heavy-handed with the superglue when glueing them to their base, and there's some frosting on the models' legs. I'm sure I could get rid of it if I could be bothered.


Overall I think they're fine, and I'm feeling motivated to knock out my last Ape unit just so I can say my Apes are done. Now I'm not saying I WILL be doing that anytime soon...

Turning Heel

I got to host a couple of intro games today for some newcomers to our local gaming group. I started off with Monpoc; I think it's quite easy to get into and is fairly visually appealing as my models are actually painted. Given the choice, The Man In Black and Wheatley chose the Terrasaurs, so I played GUARD.


Turns 1-3:
As usual I went first so I could demonstrate the basics. I brought in some units and demonstrated combined attacks against some buildings, failing to do any damage. For their first turn Black and Wheatley brought in some units and, not wanting to destroy any buildings since Terrasaurs are the good guys, they secured them instead. In my monster turn I demonstrated stepping, and finally blew up a building for a power die, firmly establishing GUARD as the bad guys in this conflict.
Turn 4:
Terra Khan ran up, punched Defender X in the nose, then ran and hid behind a building.
Turns 5-7:
I brought in a repair truck and used it to put out the fire in the building I had destroyed. I also whiffed a couple more unit attacks. Notorious MiB and Oately reinforced their power base. In my second Monster turn I was finally able to demonstrate what the game is really all about, as Defender X grabbed Terra Khan and threw him into the building he had been hiding behind, doing a full 3 damage, before stepping back.
Turns... I lost count...:
Understanding how power attacks worked now, The MiB and Wheatos were faced with a difficult moral quandry: toss Defender X into two buildings for 5 damage, or stick to their morals and avoid deliberately causing collateral damage to the city. In the end it was decided that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good; after all, 5 damage is 5 damage! I responded by rebuilding the first building that I had knocked down, seizing the moral high ground. I also tried to put some damage into Terra Khan with my tanks, but that didn't go so well: The Bellowers had no such difficulty chipping away at Defender X, so I retaliated with Mr. Tank, who finally managed to get through Terra Khan's scaley hide. At this point Defender X was in Hyper mode, so I was able to use Beat Back on his blast attack to knock Terra Khan into another building. I ran two Monster turns in a row to weaken the Terrasaur's power base with a stomp attack.
Turn Schfifty Five:
With Defender X at one health, a combined attack from four Bellowers and a Spinodon failed to knock off his last point of damage. Irritated with his underlings, Terra Khan picked up Defender X and body-slammed him onto two of the Bellowers to make an example out of them, winning the game in a surprising heel turn. I guess Nolan was right: you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

---

We were joined mid-game by another newcomer, The Painted Man. After the Monpoc game I took the opportunity to demonstrate Warmachine. I had a Sorscha2 Brawlmachine-legal list I had put together at the behest of some forumites. It has Doomreavers to actually do work, Beast 09 because he's a beast, a Destroyer because it's a safe pick, Reinholdt and the Koldun Lord for rerolls, and Alexia1 to make up points and put some bodies on the table.
(Khador: Wolves of Winter)
[Sorscha 2] Forward Kommander Sorscha [+28]
- Beast 09 [16]
- Destroyer [13]
- Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator [3]
Koldun Lord [0(3)]
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen [8]
Doom Reaver Swordsmen [10]
- Greylord Escort [3]

I gave Painted Man a Kozlov list I had carelessly thrown together earlier. Since Kozlov is low on speed buffs but heavy on damage buffs, I went for two shooty jacks; the Demolisher's high ARM should help ensure it has the opportunity to counter-punch if the army eats an alpha. Nyss Hunters are one of the better units I own for intro games as they are simple and are decent at both ranged and melee; with Valachev and Kozlov's buffs they could potentially crack a lot of amour on the charge. The Forgeseer and Wardog would make up the points, enable Gang, and had the rare distinction of actually being painted.
(Khador: Wolves of Winter)
[Kozlov 1] Lord Kozlov, Viscount of Scarsgrad [+28]
- Decimator [15]
- Demolisher [16]
- War Dog [2]
Greylord Forge Seer [0(4)]
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (max) [16]
- Koldun Kapitan Valachev [4]


Pre-Game:
We were playing on a rather small table, just under 30" across, so I used a 3' mat. I threw down some simple terrain around a 12" zone in a vague approximation of a Mosh-Pit scenario, with the simplified ruleset of "any model can score if it's in the zone and no enemy models are in the zone, starting from the second player's second turn".


Deployment:
I put Sorscha's battlegroup in the center, the forest on the left forced my DoomReavers to my right (the lines were too close for advanced deployment to make sense), and the Risen brought up the rear. My Koldon Lord went nowhere, because I forgot he was in the list. TPM put his jack in the trench and Nyss in the forest.
Round 1:
I ran everything forwards except Alexia and the Destroyer. The Destroyer put some damage onto the Forgeseer, and Alexia created a Thrall who ran up to obstruct the Nyss.
The two jacks shot down most of my Doomreavers, leaving one knocked-down survivor who passed his Tough roll. But the Forgeseer cut him down, using Battle Wizard to cast a Hoarfrost that scattered onto a couple of Risen. The Nyss circled my army and put a big CRA into Beast, who used Hyper-Agressive to close the distance. Valachev meanwhile killed the Thrall and was able to Frostbite Reinholdt to death. Kozlov advanced behind the Forgeseer.
Round 2:
Beast 09 casually murdered most of the Nyss with a couple of swings. The Destroyer charged and killed the Forgeseer. Alexia took a double-boosted shot at Kozlov but only did 3 damage, which he ignored using Focus. The Greylord Escort cast Frostbite at Kozlov, missing him but killing the Wardog.

I pointed out to TPM that he might have an assassination vector on Sorscha: running Valachev to engage her, knocking down the Destroyer with the Decimator, and then Sidestepping Kozlov off a Risen would get Kozlov into Sorscha. TPM had other plans however.

Valachev walked and Zephyred over to engage the Destroyer, while the remaining three Nyss walked around Beast 09, giving him a wide berth, in order to cut down Alexia. Kozlov retreated and cast Fury on the Decimator, who charged the Destroyer, crippling his cortex and right arm. The Demolisher advanced slightly and but some boosted shots into Beast 09, doing a fair bit of damage but not crippling any systems. Round 3:
Unable to charge the Demolisher as it was in his back arc, Beast 09 instead opted to finish off the Nyss. With no Focus and a crippled axe arm, the Destroyer whiffed his only attack on the Decimator. The Greylord Escort once again failed to Frostbite Kozlov. Sorscha rolled 3 attacks on her quad-iron and put all three into Valachev, somehow leaving him with a single box! I should mention here that I forgot to give Valachev the defensive bonus for being engaged in melee. Oops. Anyway, Sorscha then cast Cyclone to withdraw.
The Decimator finished off the Destroyer. Valachev attacked Beast 09 but at dice-11 he predictably did no damage. Kozlov swapped Fury over to the Demolisher and popped his Feat. The Demolisher then charged Beast 09 and finished him off with a single attack.
Round 4:
Sorscha charged the Decimator; her second attack crit and left him stationary, but even so she was only able to cripple his buzzsaw.
The Decimator shook Stationary and tried to step out of melee range so he could knock Sorscha down with his gun, but the free strike crippled his other arm. Boosting the attack rolls for two dice wasn't enough, and Sorscha remained on her feet... until the Demolisher charged in alongside Valachev and put her down with his third MAT 8 P+S 21 attack.
Post-Mortem:
The games were a lot of fun, more so than most intro games I've held. I was impressed by how quickly everyone picked up the rules and started making strategic decisions.

I find it interesting that in several of the Monpoc intro games I've held, new players were intially confused by my eagerness to destroy buildings despite playing a "good guy" faction. Obviously I'm doing it initially to demonstrate the game mechanics. Guess I need to hurry up and get some Destroyers on the table.

The Headsman Cometh

The Warcaster Kickstarter 3 stuff had arrived, and Karas had already put his cadre together.
Automech (proxied by Haqq Al-Fasid)
Paladin Seigebreaker
Paladin Weaver
Regulator Reave
Regulators squad
Witch Hounds attachment
Tracers squad
Firebrand (Reflex cortex, Assault Rifle & Bayonet, Repulsor Shield, Maelstrom)
Morningstar (Exchanger cortex, Assault Shield, Assault Shield, Gate Crasher, Maelstrom)
Major Aysa Drayce (proxied by Paladin Commander)
Headsman

I hadn't really made any changes to my list:
Artemis Fang hero solo
Coalition Weaver solo
Hunter solo x2
Combat Engineer
Ranger Fire Team squad
Warder attachment
Dusk Wolf light warjack (Scout cortex, Railgun, Battle Rifle, Ripper Saw)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Ace cortex, Railgun, Railgun, Battle Rifle, Battle Rifle)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Bomber cortex, Talon Rocket Pod, Talon Rocket Pod, Flamethrower, Flamethrower)


Pre-Game:
We played Skirmish and rolled Chaos Theory. We decided to modify it to use the same scoring method as before: a model scores during it's activation. Karas won the roll and chose to go first, deploying his Morningstar and Regulator Reeve. I deployed the Bomber Raptor and a Hunter.


Pulse 1.1
The Morningstar scored the far objective and Gatecrashed in Aysa and the Firebrand. He was able to "daisy-chain" a gate off Aysa on my side of the table. I charged the Bomber Raptor and used him to score the near objective and take down the Firebrand. I repositioned my Hunter to the right and put down a gate.
Pulse 1.2:
Iirc Karas used a Cypher to clear the activation token off his Morningstar and advanced it further up, using Gatecrasher to bring in the Seigebreaker, and then deploying the Automech and Headsman from the other gate. He used a cypher to fully charge the Headsman (which I guess was not technically in keeping with the correct turn order, but I don't think it made a difference really). I charged the Hunter and sent him to score the right objective, finishing off Aysa. I sent the Bomber Raptor to score the left objective, spiking for the extra movement needed, then put some damage onto the Seigebreaker. I deployed Artemis, the Weaver, and the Rangers with the Warder (I forgot how the rules worked here and deployed the Warder too far from the gate), trying to impede the Headsman's access to the right objective. I placed a gate on the far side of the table.
Pulse 1.3:
A Cypher allowed the Headsman to tractor-beam my gate towards the center of the table. The Seigebreaker killed my (illegally placed) Warder then moved to score my near objective. The Headsman was then able to walk around my Rangers and gun them all down, along with Artemis Fang, with his machinegun-flamethrower. Oh, and he punched my Hunter to death too. The Firebrand deployed out of a gate. I charged the Bomber Raptor and used a Cypher to give him +2 speed and Flight. The allowed him to fly over the building and, with a couple of extra 2" moves from the Bomber cortex, he was able to score the far objective. I don't remember who he shot at but with no Arc he wasn't able to kill anything. The Weaver hopped onto a building so I could target stuff with Furies. I deployed my Ace Raptor next to the Headsman, then put a gate down on the left of my deployment zone. At the end of the pulse round we each had 4 points. We rolled a 1 and the far left objective disappeared.


Pulse 2.1:
Karas used a Cypher to tune up the Headsman, who then got to work on my Ace Raptor. I thought this was a funny result for an attack roll, with all the reds rolling blanks and (almost) all the whites rolling double strikes: Arguably even more funny (depending on your perspective...) was this damage roll: That's a 19. Three wounds on my Strike Raptor, and just one strike off being a one-shot kill. Obviously my Raptor did not survive the activation. I think it was the Seigebreaker who killed my Weaver. Finally the Tracers dropped in, followed by a gate near to my own. My Bomber Raptor shot into the Morningstar, failing to kill it but taking out a Tracer, before shuffling backwards and scoring the far objective again. I brought in the Ace Raptor and Engineer, then put down a gate on my right.
Pulse 2.2:
The Automech that cleared the activation token from the Headsman and repaired two or three boxes on the Morningstar. The Headsman killed my Bomber Raptor. Karas used a Cypher to shuffle the Tracers downwards, then he deployed his Palading Weaver. I allocated an Arc to my Ace Raptor then my Engineer tuned him up. The Raptor then killed the Paladin Weaver, the Seigebreaker, and a Tracer. The Firebrand hopped over to where the Siegebreaker used to be. On my right I brought in my Bomber Raptor and a Hunter, then placed another gate on the far left towards the center of the table.
Pulse 2.3:
The Automech scored the far objective. The Morningstar used Gatecrasher to bring in the Palading Weaver on the right objective. I think the Morningstar killed my Hunter, though it might have been a Fury cast through the Weaver. Karas collapsed his remaining gate to bring in the Seigebreaker near my objective. I had been counting on the Hunter to score the right objective; I had tried to deploy him in a protected position. Without him my options were a bit limited. I opted to charge my Bomber Raptor and use him to clear and score the near objective. I brought in my Duskwolf, Rangers, and Weaver on the left, intending to push them towards the far objective. I put down a gate again closer to the central objective. At the end of the pulse round I had 8 points and Karas had 12. We rolled a 3 and the objective on the right was removed.


Pulse 3.1:
The Seigebreaker and Regulator Reave took out my Duskwolf and a couple of my Rangers. Furies may have been involved. Karas deployed a gate behind his Morningstar. I advanced the Ace Raptor and finally took down the Morningstar. I think I killed the Seigebreaker with a Fury. I collapsed my gate to deploy the Dusk Wolf and two Hunters, then put down a new gate on the far left. Pulse 3.2
The Headsman walked towards the center and casually ate my Dusk Wolf. Karas deployed the Firebrand beside the central objective. The Ace Raptor, tuned up and fully charged with three Arc, walked up to the central objective and failed to kill the (currently DEF 7) Headsman. I know attacking the Firebrand was the more logical choice, but at this point I cared more about revenge on the Headsman than I did about scoring. A Hunter tried to finish the job but predictably did nothing. I used a Cypher to advance my other Hunter towards the far objective for some reason. I once again deployed the Dusk Wolf, out on the far left.
Pulse 3.3:
The Paladin Weaver gave the Firebrand some Arc. The Firebrand then slammed my Ace Raptor off the objective, killing my Hunter and allowing him score. I moved the Bomber Raptor up to get line of sight to the Headsman and finally finished him off. I didn't bother with the rest of my attacks or activations. The game ended with Karas winning 18 to 11.


Post-Mortem:
Facing a charged and tuned-up Headsman who could have his activation tokens cleared by the Automech was pretty much getting a taste of my own medicine. He's a powerful and versatile model. Karas getting him charged and tuned up early, along with the ability to put models on the table faster than me with Gatecrasher, meant that I was fighting an uphill battle for attrition.

By spreading across the table and using my Raptors' manouverability I was able to keep up with the scoring in the first round, but as central objectives dissappeared and failed to push to the center and far objectives I was unable to keep up. My squad, solos, and even the Dusk Wolf, kept dying before they could do anything. It seems I should have focussed less on deploying them far up and more on deploying them in protected positions. In retrospect my target priority could have been better too, but at the time I wasn't sure which models were most worth the effort required to kill them.

By the start of the last pulse round Karas just needed to acivate his Automech and Morningstar and he would score 6 points, putting him 10 points ahead of me; even if I scored all three remaining objectives I could only score 9 points. We could have ended the game there, but there wasn't time for a second game so we played it through, with Karas delaying scoring. At least this let me kill the Headsman by the end, from which I derived significant satisfaction.

I was trying to spread the Arc and activations around a bit more than in my last game, but never really had the chance. The Strike Raptors really are my best models for holding Arc. Still, I believe I can get more value from the rest of my army if I play them better; getting to cast Furies is just free attacks, I should be able to get the Hunters to stay alive and kill stuff if I keep them back and just move in and out of cover rather than sending them forwards for objectives, and the Rangers could maybe do more work by knocking Arc off enemy models that by simply trying to damage them. I have reconsidered my Cypher deck to try to include more cards that benefit my models and playstyle, that should help too.

Raptors Run In Packs

It was finally time for a Warcaster rematch. I had a couple of new models:
Artemis Fang hero solo
Coalition Weaver solo
Hunter solo x2
Combat Engineer
Ranger Fire Team squad
Dusk Wolf light warjack (Railgun, Battle Rifle, Ripper Saw, Scout cortex)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Railgun, Railgun, Battle Rifle, Battle Rifle, Ace cortex)
Strike Raptor heavy warjack (Talon Rocket Pod, Talon Rocket Pod, Flamethrower, Flamethrower, Bomber cortex)

Karas had to run some proxies this game:
Justicar Voss hero solo (proxied by Jax Redblade)
Paladin Weaver solo (proxied by a Terrasaur Carnidon)
Paladin Commander solo (proxied by Artemis Fang)
Paladin Seigebreaker solo x2
Paladin Enforcers squad (proxied with G.U.A.R.D. Exo-Armours)
Palading Defenders squad
Firebrand light warjack (Assault Rifle & Bayonet, Sun Piercer, Recon Cortex)
Morningstar heavy warjack (Gate Crasher, Starburst Missiles, Assault Shield, Assault Shield)


Pre-Game:
We played Skirmish and ended up rolling the same scenario as last time. I won the roll and chose to go first. I placed the resilient Ace Strike Raptor close to the central objective, and a Hunter close to my objective. Karas mirrored my deployment with his Morningstar and Weaver.
Pulse 1.1
I put an Arc on the Strike Raptor. My plan was to fight for the central objective with my most powerful model, and meanwhile push towards his objective with my Hunter and later reinforcements; I figured I didn't need to grab my objective yet because it would be easy to grab before the end of the turn, so I advanced my Hunter and Ace Raptor agressively. The Ace, having a 20" range, was able to put a couple of Railgun shots into the Morningstar, but whiffed his attacks. I placed a gate with 4 Arc near the Hunter. The Morningstar advanced and placed a gate, out of which Karas deployed the Firebrand and Seigebreaker. He also placed a gate by his Weaver.
Pulse 1.2
I cleared my activated tokens and gave the Ace Raptor his second Arc, then played a Cypher to boost his speed and give him Flight. Now at 2 Arc, he flew up to the central objective and gunned down the Seigebreaker, scoring a point. The Hunter advanced and took a shot at the Morningstar, doing nothing. I collapsed my gate to summon the Bomber Strike Raptor on my far left. I placed a second gate with 3 Arc in my deployment zone behind my Ace Raptor. Using Repulsor from a Cypher, the Firebrand pushed my Ace Raptor off the central objective and scored it himself. Karas deployed Voss and a Seigebreaker from his gate.
Pulse 1.3
I gave the Ace Raptor his third Arc at last. My plan had been to push my Bomber Raptor aggressively at the far objective, but at this point I realised I was not going to be able to score my own objective unless I pulled him back, as I didn't have any other model that could activate and make it to the objective. So unfortunately that's pretty much all I was able to do in the activation phase. I used up the arc on my gate to summon my Weaver and Fire Team, then placed a new gate near my Hunter. The Seigebreaker advanced and knocked an Arc off my gate. The Morningstar pushed up to my Ace Raptor and took a couple of swings with his shields. It also put down a gate, out of which popped the Defender squad. I believe it also killed a Fire Team grunt and put a wound on my Weaver. At the end of the turn we were at 2 points each.
Pulse 2.1
I gave the Bomber Raptor his first Arc. The Hunter resumed his long march towards the distant objective. I activated the Ace Raptor and put as much damage as I could into the Morningstar, but the extra armour from the two shields kept him alive. Using a Cypher card, I was at least able to inflict the System Failure effect (we used the wrong token in the photos), shutting down his shooting. I collapsed my Gate to summon my Dusk Wolf and Engineer. The Palading Defenders, with the help of a buff from a Cypher card, were able to finish off my Ace Raptor. The Seigebreaker took down my Dusk Wolf.
Pulse 2.2
I gave the Bomber Raptor a second Arc, then set the Firebrand on fire (ha ha) with a Fury. The Engineer walked back to my objective to score it, and also tuned up the Bomber Raptor. Which then moved up and took down the Seigebreaker. Finally I put down a gate. The Morningstar moved towards my models on my left, putting down a gate from which emerged two Seigebreakers. Hidden by the building on the far left, Voss killed my Hunter.
Pulse 2.3
I put a third Arc on the Bomber Raptor. He spiked for speed and Flight, enabling him to move up and get line of sight on Karas' hidden models. He hit Voss with a Talon rocket, who spiked to ignore damage and teleport away. Thanks to the Bomber cortex, the Raptor was able to move up to the far objective. He then finished off the Weaver, the gate, and the Morningstar, allowing me to score. I advanced my Weaver, and used a Cypher to reposition my Fire Team towards the central objective, and put down a gate next to my Weaver. The Seigebreakers took my Ace Raptor down to one wound. Karas put down a gate near Voss. At the end of the turn we both had 6 points.
Pulse 3.1
I considered activating the Ace Raptor, which would ensure that it would get to activate before dying and allow me to score, but I was worried about Voss pushing my Bomber Raptor off the table again, so I used a Cypher I'd been holding for a while to clear the Bomber Raptor's activation token, allowing it to shuffle to a safer position. My Combat Engineer then walked up and repaired two wounds on the Ace Raptor. I used the same fury again to set a Seigebreaker on fire, and pulled my Dusk Wolf and a Hunter out of the gate. Finally I placed a gate in front of my objective just to block access. The Palading Defenders put some damage onto my Dusk Wolf and a Seigebreaker went back to wailing on my Duskwolf. The Paladins scored the central objective.
Pulse 3.2
I put an Arc on the Ace Raptor. I used a Cypher to double the Fire Team's output, and took down the Firebrand. The Hunter moved to my left and whiffed a shot. I summoned a second Hunter next to my objective. The Palading Defenders and a Seigebreaker killed my Weaver, Dusk Wolf, and a Fire Team grunt. The other Seigebreaker killed my fresh Hunter and knocked some Arc off my gate. Karas recalled the Seigebreaker on the right and placed a gate next to my objective.
Pulse 3.3
I gave an Arc to the Ace Raptor, who spiked for Flight and flew next to my objective. He killed the Seigebreaker but couldn't clear the gate so he couldn't score. Using a Cypher for a speed buff, Voss walked around the left side of the building on my far left and used Repulsor to push my Bomber Raptor off the far objective, allowing him to score. The game ended with me at 9 points and Karas at 12, for an ISA victory.

Post-Mortem:
We really need to play more often so we can get the rules down properly. I think we mixed up pulse rounds and turns the whole game, so we might not have resolved continuous effect properly. I do feel I'm starting to understand the turn sequence better, as well as what I suppose you could call the "gameplay priorities": where to use Arc, holding on to useful Cyphers and cycling through the useless ones as quickly as possible, keeping enough models on the table, etc.

Well, I say that, but at the end of the day I mainly just used Arc to charge and summon Strike Raptors. In fact most of my meaningful activations were Strike Raptor activations. When you can only activate a unit and a solo each round, why not activate the unit that can make 4 attacks with up to 3 extra Power Dice? And when you're allocating Arc, why not allocate it to the model where a point of Arc buffs 4 attacks per activation, as well as buffing the model's survivability? It's simply the most efficient use of the resource. Obviously efficiency isn't everything, it's just an easy answer is all.

Anyway, in the future I'll try to make better use of the rest of my army and not crutch on the Strike Raptor so hard. I was too complacent when it came to scoring my near objective, and that cost me-I actually didn't score it at the end of the game, hence my loss. And had I pushed the Bomber Raptor up earlier rather than needing to pull it back to score my near objective, I probably could have scored the far objective earlier, gaining an additional 2 points. You live and you learn right?