Forgetting how to play

I am SO rusty at this game.
Malakov 2
- Destroyer
- Juggernaut
- Wardog
Forgeseer
- Decimator
Nyss Hunters
Alexia & the Risen

I didn't want to change my list from last time too much, but I didn't feel like playing Butcher so I cycled back to Malakov. The idea behind the list was to use Risen as Sucker targets to keep Malakov safe early game, then use the Wardog to knock stuff down late-game. I would push the jacks forward and keep them safe with the feat. Destroyer shooting with Open Fire could thin down enemy infantry.

I decided not to make any changes to the list I made for Speedy last time:
Vlad 1
- Juggernaut
- Spriggan
- Berserker
- Adjunct
Croe's Cutthroats
- Valachev
Doomreaver Swordsmen
Kayazy Eliminators (proxied)


Pre-Game:
I considered trying to play a Steamroller scenario for the first time, but those things are so damned complicated for new and rusty players, they have like 5 scorable elements at minimum. It's too much hassle. So I just threw a couple of zones on the table and tossed some flat terrain on top. I won the roll and chose to go second.


Deployment:

Round 1:
Speedy advanced his Cutthroats aggressively and put a cloud on Vlad (we were too lazy to actually put the template on him so we just left it lying around nearby).

Malakov cast Repo on the Decimator, Escort on himself, and put a cloud next to the forest. The Decimator trampled and repo'ed, while the other jacks just ran up. The Nyss Hunters moved to claim the zone on my right, while the Risen just clustered around Malakov protectively.

Round 2:
So it turns out Cutthroats can just walk into a forest and shoot at my guys without any issues. I probably would have known that if I had ever played Warmachine before. I mean, it's not like this is my favourite miniatures game and these are MY flippin' models! God I'm so rusty. Anyway, Speedy walked the Cutthroats up and focussed down Alexia first before starting on the Risen. The Eliminators ran to engage my Nyss. The Spriggan flared my Juggernaut then actually put three points of damage on him with a boosted POW 10 grenade attack. The Adjunct clouded Vlad who walked up and cast Wind Wall.

I was not happy about those Cutthroats being so close to my caster. I've honestly completely lost my sense for distances in this game. I didn't really have enough attacks on that side to deal with them, so I decided to buy time and back away. I dropped the cloud but upkept Escort and Overrun, and allocated two to the Juggernaut and I think one to the Destroyer. The Risen charged into the Cutthroats, doing nothing. The Decimator was close enough to aim and use Strike True to kill two Cutthroats. Andrei Feated and walked away, followed by the dog. The Forgeseer empowered the Destroyer, who aimed and shot the engaged Nyss Hunter in the back. I killed the two Nyss caught in the blast but boosted damage rolls against the Eliminators only killed one...

Then my Juggernaut walked up to Vlad and rolled hot on every single attack and damage roll to take him out with three completely unboosted attacks (meaning I had two focus left).

Post-Mortem:
Ugh, I forgot everything. I forgot to remind Speedy about the Cutthroat's Prey, I almost forgot Stealth, I might have forgotten to give my Nyss Hunter the engagement bonus, I DEFINITELY forgot to give him the defensive bonus for being in the trench, I forgot the Cutthroats have Pathfinder... I dunno man, my brain is just fried these days.

I felt Speedy already has a much better grasp of what the models can do, taking good advantage of their mobility. I guess he underestimated Vlad's resilience (although to be fair my Juggernaut's dice were very hot), either that or he wanted the game to end sooner as it was a little late and he seemed quite tired.

We discussed whether Blood of Kings would have been better than Wind Wall on Vlad. Obviously it would have seriously cut down on my Juggernaut's chances of killing him; needing 11's instead of 8's to hit is a big difference. I would have been able to put a lot more shooting into him then of course. Perhaps the best thing to do would have been to just hide behind a clouded Spriggan?

Orsus The Unhinged

This was my first game of Warmachine in almost exactly a year. I had recently put together a Butcher proxy and have been thinking about Butcher jank, which led me to this list:
Butcher 2
- Kodiak
- Destroyer
- Sylyss
Greylord Forge Seer
- Decimator
Nyss Hunters
Alexia and the Risen

Speedy had not been feeling his Protectorate army, so I suggested trying Vlad1. After all, he's powerful but straight-forwards and just makes his whole army better. So I wrote this list for him:
Vlad 1
- Spriggan
- Juggernaut
- Berserker
- Greylord Adjunct
Kayazy Eliminators (proxied)
Doomreaver Swordsmen
Croe's Cutthroats
- Valachev

Admittedly my list building was constrained by my model selection, but I think both lists did what I had in mind for them. The Butcher's was about efficient jacks and independent infantry who could power his feat, with the Forgeseer and marshaled jack to help reduce the focus burden. Vlad's list was full of melee jacks that would love his feat, and generally just Friendly Faction models that could take advantage of Signs and Portents. I considered the Grolar over the Spriggan, but decided that the Spriggan's 2" melee would be useful to have. The Berserker filled out the points, and is actually a decent jack under V1.


Pre-Game:
I forgot the rulebook so we just put a zone in the center and called it good. I also seemed to have misplaced my forests, so we just said that the water and hills were both forests (since hills aren't in the game anymore and water is annoying). Speedy won the roll and chose to go second.


Deployment:
I set up my two-line "kill the Risen first" infantry formation on my left, with the Butcher in the middle and his jacks on my right. Speedy deployed his infatry on my right and his jacks on my left.

Round 1:
I put Fury on the Kodiak and advanced into the zone.

Speedy walked and Zephyred the Cutthroats up to start shooting at Butcher. With Signs and Portents they managed to get 5 damage onto him. Which I should have prevented using focus since I wasn't doing anything else with it, but I forgot. The big issue though was that Croe himself managed to tag Butcher and Silence him, so I wouldn't be able to cast spells next turn. The rest of his army advanced slowly.

Round 2:
Butcher rolled a 1 for his focus, big surprise. I was originally expecting my jacks to clash with Speedy's, and likewise for the infantry to face off, but his battlegroup were too far away and his infantry were right there, so I adjusted my plan slightly and started softening up his jacks with my Nyss and Destroyer shooting, while putting the Kodiak into his Cutthroats. The Risen continued to form a flimsy wall.

The Eliminators charged into the Kodiak, doing a decent bit of damage then side-stepping towards the rest of my battlegroup. The Cutthroats continued to focus on Butcher, although they didn't silence him this time. The warjacks started thinning out my Risen - although the Berserker wasn't in range and had to run to engage.

Round 3:
Unlike last my last turn, Butcher started by rolling a 1 for focus. Oh, sorry, did I say "unlike"? I meant "just like". I sent him in to kill the Eliminators; it cost him a focus but he took them down and alongside a Cutthroat and a Risen. Because his final kill was a friendly model, he didn't trigger Homicidal Maniac and couldn't try to pac-man his way through the Cutthroats. I'm not sure I would have wanted him to anyway tbh; he was already very exposed. Which I tried to remedy by moving some Nyss Hunters and Risen in front. I would have liked to run the Decimator to shield him but couldn't get him into a really good position. The Nyss Hunters didn't have much to shoot at so they tried to ping the Spriggan - who's shield had just been crippled by the Destroyer - but only really managed to kill a couple of Risen. Alexia created a Thrall next to the Berserker, but he didn't do very much. The Kodiak killed a couple more Cutthroats. Finally the Forgeseer ran to try to keep up.

The Berserker was allocated two focus, and the Juggernaut was allocated one. The Cutthroats shot at Butcher again, silencing him once more. The Adjunct put a bit of damage onto the Kodiak and Decimator, then the Doomreavers charged the Kodiak and killed him (and only one Doomreaver was killed by his fellows in the process!). The Berserker trampled over my units, taking some damage from the Thrall free strike but killing a couple of Risen. He then bought attacks to kill Alexia, Sylyss, and I think a Nyss Hunter. His job done, he considered blowing up but didn't. The Spriggan walked up and used Bulldoze and his grenades to help clear out the Nyss Hunters to create a path for the Juggernaut. He also worked through Butcher's focus and dropped him down to 5 health. Finally the Juggernaut walked up and perfectly dropped Butcher with a single left jab; he didn't even need to use his three Ice Axe attacks.

Post-Mortem:
Man, it was nice to get to play Warmachine again! I was really missing it. I was pretty rusty, but at least I remembered most of the base rules, that's something. My original plan had been to send my jacks into Speedy's, but his deployment and the way the infantry ended up running ahead into the center of the table meant that I never had a clear line. I shoud probably have commit my jacks to go after his infantry, but between the lack of focus my inability to even cast spells most of the time, it didn't feel like that would have done all that much anyway. I wasn't really sure what to do with this Butcher; his rules seems to be designed around him doing infantry killing duty himself (hell, he needs to just to be able to proc his battlegroup buffs), however seeing as he's the least survivable Butcher ever I feel like you don't want to be too agressive with him. Also I momentarily forgot that his Mk3 feat does not let you run and then attack the way his Mk2 feat did. He probably wants a jack with 2" melee to make the most of Ravager, and of course for the threat range... yeah, he wants Ruin. Well, that would help, I still don't know how I would play him. Maybe I'll try him again. Maybe.