Well folks, it's taken a while, but I have finaly gotten down to telling the storid tale of pGrissel v eGrissel and how our own Mikes Davies is truly a great mind and player. Here is the bloody chronicle of our battle.
Lists
Goris
Points: 50/50
Grissel Bloodsong (*5pts)
* Pyre Troll (5pts)
* Earthborn Dire Troll (10pts)
* Trollkin Runebearer (2pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Trollkin Fennblades (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Fennblade Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Trollkin Long Riders (Leader and 2 Grunts) (7pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Horthol, Long Rider Hero (5pts)
Janissa Stonetide (3pts)
Bakaryu
Points: 50/50
Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels (*6pts)
* Winter Troll (5pts)
* Ršk (11pts)
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes (3pts)
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder (1pts)
Sons of Bragg (6pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (4pts)
Trollkin Runeshapers (Leader and 2 Crew) (4pts)
Trollkin Scattergunners (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Drummer (2pts)
Dahlia Hallyr & Skarath (9pts)
Fell Caller Hero (3pts)
Deployment
Goris
I deployed on the bottom with what I thought was a good all comers list. And it was but I brought a knife to a gun fight(Pun Intended). I could see immediately that I was going to have a hard time against Mike's army once those scatterguners hit the table and I realised that my first big blunder was that I wasn't putting enough pressure on the top control point. I mistakenly thought that my Long Ridders and my Earthborn alone could contest the point long enough to give me an advantage.
Bakaryu
Deployed in the top left corner, immediately after seeing Goris’s army and his deployment I felt
certain that I had made a good choice in my army selection. I set up one unit of Runeshapers on
each flank, Dahlia and Skarath, Fell Caller and the Sons of Bragg set up on my right flank, Rok on my
left flank with eGrissel, the Winter Troll and the Krielstone sat behind my Scattergunners who took
up the centre.
Turn 1
Goris
Turn 1 I was trying to get an idea of what Mike ahd planned and whether or not he was going to be super agressive with the control points or wait and just spray me off once I got in for the feat jam. Unfortunately the later was the case. I was worried about getting blasted off the point with my Long Riders so opted to have them in a position to contest rather then hold for the enxt turn knowing that I was going ot have to contend with some AOE's comign my way. Grissel was completely safe on a hill and with all my support nestled nicely behind her waiting for the inevitable spray nastiness.
Bakaryu
Goris’s first turn went pretty much as I had expected. I started with my right flank, the Runeshapers
taking up a position behind the forest to prevent them being charged with the Sons behind them
ready for the inevitable feat jam. Dahlia cast Haunting Melody and advanced alongside Skarath who
riled for two points. Scattergunners took up a scattered jamming formation while eGrissel dropped
3 fury into the Krielstone and cast Inhospitable Ground. The Winter Troll had riled for one and cast
his animus on one of the Scattergunners (before they ran into position) and Rok had riled for three
points.
Turn 2
Goris
Knowing I only had so much time before my feat would be nearly useless I decided to pop it early, engage ane perhaps claim some control points. Unfortunately the only thign that really went well for me this turn was making some Runeshapers fail their command check because they were out of eGrissel's command range. There was minimal damage to scattergunners and honestly the feat fell short mostly because I wasn't agressive enough with my first turn.
Bakaryu
As expected pGrissel popped her feat, catching everything the top two Long Riders before spraying
(and missing). My distance judgement was spot on, losses were minimal and I was in an ideal
position to counter attack. eGrissel cast Dash and sprayed the Long Rider on the hill, forcing him
to pass a tough roll after a boosted damage roll before dropping two fury into the Krielstone who
itself popped +2ARM +1STR. Rok then tried his hand at taking down the Long Rider but again he
passed his tough roll! The Fell Caller gave the Scattergunners War Cry and aimed, spraying at and
killing one Fennblade before the Scattergunners activated wiping out the Fennblades almost to a
man as well as finally finishing off the Long Rider who had managed to charge (but failed to kill) the
Runeshaper on the hill. The Runeshapers on my right flank managed to rally after failing a terror
check when the Fennblades came in under their mini feat. The Sons under Call of Defiance killed
two more Fennblades before Skarath sprayed killing the Fennblade Officer and forcing Rhudd to pass
a tough roll. Dahlia cast Mist Walker and dumped her last fury point before taking a position behind
the wall where Haunting Melody caught Rathar, preventing the unit from charging or running. The
Runeshapers on my left under dash had the legs to reach the two remaining Long Riders under a
charge, the first knocked them both down with Tremor and the second auto hit with a charge attack,
doing two points of damage.
'
Turn 3
Goris
So, after my Fenns were all bt destroyed I finally got Horthol up my left flank to take out fo SoB's and runeshapers. I had to move my SoB's up as to not completely lose the control point, but it wasn't looking good. There was little way fo continuing to control the point or make an attempt on eGrissel. I did manage to sneak a charge in on her with one fo my Long Riders. I was hoping for some trip 6's but alas not. Really though, I needed to threaten eGrissel a little ebcause I was losing the piece exchange badly due to Scattergunners actually being able to hit something for once. Dice are dice and I left him hanging in the wind and yet another turn goes for Mike as he continues to dominate me with his scattergunners.
Bakaryu
Losing Tor sucked, but I had enough Runeshapers to keep Horthol tied up for at least two more
rounds, longer if I passed any tough rolls. eGrissel had to cut herself for two, cast Dash, Inhospitable
Ground, popped her feat and walked out of combat with the Long Rider before spraying him in the
face taking him down with a boosted damage roll. The remaining two Runeshapers on my right took
up delaying positions against Horthol knocking him down with a tremor before hitting with Rock
Hammer but failed to damage, the two on the left flank had more success, one of them knocking
down the Fell Caller, the Earthborn and the last remaining Long Rider while the other bombed
the Krielstone Scribe behind the Earthborn killing one but failing to kill the other two with blast
damage. Scattergunners killed the Long Rider and Fell Caller as well as polishing off the remaining
two Fennblades and Rhudd. The Sons advanced and under Fervor Rathar killed Rathar to establish
control over my flag.
Turn 4
Goris
At this point I start to see there is little hope for this game so I make an effort to try and control my point and remove Rok from the game but fail to do either. Near the end I decide conceeding would be the wisest coarse of action but was swayed by Mike insitance that he could assainate me in some spectacular fasion. So we continued.
Bakaryu
I forgot one screendump here, probably because Goris officially forfeited but we played on as I had
an assassination run in mind that I wanted to play for. eGrissel had to cut herself yet again because
I forgot to rile Rok for the third round in a row before she cast Dash, Primal on Rok and spent one to
heal Rok’s spirit. The Krielstone used +2ARM +1STR and Rok proceeded to take down the Earthborn
with 3 fury to spare before snacking to deny pGrissel the fury and regenerating for a total of 5
damage returned and casting Primal on the Winter Troll. The Winter Troll walked past the wall and
went for a two handed throw on pGrissel and boosted his attack roll knowing that I needed only an 8
thanks to Primal but came up with a 7, assassination foiled! The Scattergunners (who were going to
spray pGrissel to death after she was away from the wall, KSB and knocked down) took up positions
and instead peppered Janissa and the Krielstone with sprays, wiping out all but the Elder and seeing
Janissa pass three tough rolls (which came close to costing me the game). Rathar charged and killed
the Runebearer while Rhudd ran to block the charge lane from pGrissel to eGrissel.
Turn 5
Goris
Mike failed his assaination attempt so I opened up a lane for pGrissel to end the game swinging. Unfortunately I to failed my assaination missing 2 boosted to hit rolls. Again, dice are dice and Mike finshed me off next turn.
Bakaryu
Needless to say the failed assassination run for pGrissel was both mathematically unlikely and
extremely unlucky, but perhaps that balanced out my failed assassination run and the number of
tough rolls Janissa passed. Rok frenzied due to Primal and tried to eat a stone Scribe who passed
his tough roll while the Winter just stood up and dribbled due to nothing being in frenzy range. The
Krielstone used +2ARM +1STR and one moved right behind pGrissel in case of a crit smite. eGrissel
dusted herself off and stood up boosting her attack roll against pGrissel getting the crit on the first
attack, showing her alter ego how its done before killing her with a triple six on the smite damage
roll. Needing only one attack, eGrissel laid the smackdown on pGrissel.
Overview
Goris
So, what I can take away from this is that Mike is truly a solid player and that his list building tailored to beat what I would bring with pGrissel was just the first thing that spelled the end for me in this game.
Second is my lack of agression in this game which is very out of character for me if you ask any of the other folks at The Scrum I have played against. Without properly jamming I essentialy just walked up and asked Mike to spray the shit out of my dudes.
Lastly, I should not have given up. There is always hope and honestly dice can simply fuck you or your opponent and seing the game in your favor. Not only that but in haste, or over excitement, people can make mistakes or forget thigns that might cost them the game. So staying positive and playing the game out to the end is always the best policy.
The List...
I think my list is a solid take all comers list and would perform well in most situations and that was my mindset coming into this. Take rock solid pieces and proven performers. The only new thing I did was add SoB's who are quite frankly amazing and all you haters can eat me because they are going to see a lot fo play. The only thing I think I would want in this list is perhaps a second fel caller for suport but that might be overkill.
Bakaryu
After failing my assassination run, I was admittedly lucky to win however I feel that I had Goris by
the balls since the second turn both with my list selection and how I played the match. It was only
a lot of luck that presented him with the assassination opportunity in the first place, but I guess
sometimes thats just how it goes.
eGrissel
Besides being fortunate to survive pGrissel’s assassination run (largely due to my forgetting to rile
Rok three turns in a row resulting in her only having 5 hits left when Goris made the attack run), it is
easy to think that she didn’t do much over the course of the game. However, the Earthborn would
have killed Rok without her feat giving him Unyielding, in the early game the Runeshapers wouldn’t
have reached the Long Riders to tremor and slow them down without her casting Dash, and the Long
Riders would have probably turned that same unit to paste without her casting Inhospitable Ground
the turn before. So I would say that she was involved, but didn’t do anything game changing in the
way that some warlocks can turn a match by themselves. 7 out of 10
Rok
Didn’t do much over the course of the game except get beat on by an Earthborn before turning
around and eating him in my turn. Everything else he attacked passed a tough roll so not a great
game for him. If I was to try to fine tune this list I would probably swap him for an Earthborn and
add a Feralgeist so that eGrissel has someone to target with her sustained fire Fell Blast. 6 out of 10
Winter Troll
Contributed with the odd spray, used his animus once to discourage a Fennblade rush through the
middle but was so nearly instrumental in an assassination run against pGrissel, unfortunately was
unlucky to roll a 7 when he needed an 8 on three dice. Certainly a keeper though. 6 out of 10
Scattergunners and UA
I had suspected that they would do well as a central tarpit and I was not disappointed. They may
be only POW9 in melee but against chaff infantry it is usually more than enough and Clear! is just so
good you wouldn’t believe. The MVPs of this match for me, they killed pretty much the Fennblades
to a man, the Fell Caller, Rhudd, one KSB Scribe, the KSB himself, one Long Rider and should have
killed Janissa if it wasn’t for a run of three tough rolls in a row. I don’t own them yet, but if they
continue to perform like this then I might need to consider picking them up. 9 out of 10
Sons of Bragg
Continue to perform solidly, very self sufficient and were working their way through the flank ready
to come up on pGrissel from behind. A shame to lose Tor to a Horthol charge attack when he had 4+
tough but oh well, a keeper for sure. 8 out of 10
Dahlia and Skarath
Realised after the game that Dahlia shouldn’t have died to Rathar as she couldn’t be targeted by
melee attacks, so even though he was lucky to hit her behind the wall in first place when he needed
9’s it should never have happened in the first place. My own fault, and a shame because Dahlia and
Skarath were doing very well down the flank with that nasty 10” spray of his. Performed very well
and deserve another shot in this list. 8 out of 10
Runeshapers x2
I wanted something that could continue to cause trouble even when engaged and the Runeshapers
provided troubled in spades. A unit on each flank was causing chaos with Tremors as well as
with the occasional Rock Hammer thrown in for good measure. Surprisingly difficult to kill on
eGrissel’s feat turn with ARM19, tough, steady and 5 damage boxes each. Justified their inclusion
by slowing down the Long Riders, Horthol and setting up the Fell Caller to be sprayed to death by
Scattergunners. 8 out of 10
Krielstone and Scribes
As per usual do nothing fancy, just kept the army ticking along with +2ARM and against pGrissel
pretty much nothing else except +1STR every round. The aura saved both eGrissel during Goris’s
assassination attempt and Rok when the Earthborn came to play. 7 out of 10
Fell Caller
Brought pretty much purely to help improve the Scattergunners, in this list I find that he could afford
to spend more time than I usually allow to move around and spray models to help clear up lanes.
Did nothing spectacular but MAT7 helped to allow the Scattergunners to clear away the Fennblade
jam with ease. 7 out of 10
List Overall
Overall the list was a strategic experiment as an anti jam list. Not great against heavy armour with
only Rok and the Sons of Bragg realistically able to provide the kind of punch needed to possibly
take down a heavy, instead what it does is mow down infantry like wheat. Scattergunners who
get infantry rushed are able to aim and under War Cry are MAT7 RAT7 for quick work and being
able to ignore all friendlies for spray attacks is so insanely good. The only thing I might change as
mentioned above is to drop Rok for an Earthborn and use that point to add a Feralgeist who can
situationally block charge lanes and most importantly is a target for eGrissels Crescendo fell blast
allowing me to drop the template with almost perfect accuracy where I want it. 7 out of 10