Mabrothrax goes to Smogcon

Bring it on.

This will be a quick post as I'm about to go get a train to Heathrow airport to meet a good friend of mine, then we're off to...

Smogcon is currently the UK's only dedicated Warmachine & Hordes convention (it does other stuff too) and this year the organisers have really stepped up to the challenge of presenting an American style con over three days in a hotel, well, two hotels actually because demand was so high they needed a second venue.

As well as Press Ganger duties (an 18 hour straight shift in the Smog Pit (think Iron Arena)), I'm entering the Iron Gauntlet and Hardcore tournaments, and plan to get in as much casual gaming as my body will allow.

I'm trolling all the way and playing both my eGrissel list and Calandra theme force in the IG, and still undecided on eDoomshaper or eGrissel for the Hardcore.

I'm not looking to win big, but I am going to have a great time, and hopefully really learn a lot about my armies and my own playing by exposing it to a multi-national meta of (wannabe?) top players.

Once the sleep deprivation has worn off and I've returned to normality I'll have convention report up. In the meantime, please do follow me and goad/insult/encourage on twitter @unicronsbeard

Keep rolling tough!

Mabrothrax, #trollingtrollswithtrolls & playing like he's got a pair sleep deprivation.

Mabrothrax Muses: Hunters Grim and Gators

Eat, Sleep, Gator, Repeat

I have a hard time with eGrim. Sort of. I was very pleased with the work put into the Hunters Grim challenge by the Scrumm boys, but disappointed that there was no real discussion after that. The only pseudo general consensus is that Scatter gunners are worth taking, and that burrowers are fun on the feat turn.

Mortality is amazing, it gets the job done and is the ultimate turd polisher, the feat gives that one turn of living the dream - assuming you go all out with Trollblood ranged options. Mirage gives a decent amount of movement shenanigans, the other spells are situational. This we all know.

I find that he doesn't handle the Kriel stone well, which is fine - I'm not addicted to it, but many of my units are. His beast selection, in my opinion, is  very open to interpretation. Personally I don't enjoy the Bomber/Impaler plug-in.

I've tried these battle groups and found each of them to be successful:Blitzer, Pyre, StormPyre, Storm, StormBlitzer & Rok

My selection of units has never really settled. My adorable Warders, even with Mirage, don't quite do it right and almost demand the Stone (and a Storm troll) to really get things done which ends up being taxing on eGrim's Fury. Sons of Bragg always perform well, and don't require additional resources although the Chronicler gives them a little something that I like.

Valkine recently posted about his thoughts with pGrim and I'm very interested in his ideas, inparticular how (if) they crossover to eGrim. 

Gatorman Posse look to be a strong unit choice with eGrim. Compared to Warders or Champs...

• Costed between Warders and Champs

• Slightly less armour (does not require B2B)

• Same boxes

• Two initials and Reach

• Faster in most circumstances

• Built in Pathfinder

• Higher P&S

...and so on.

In a similar fashion I think Wrong Eye and Snapjaw give a very good flanking option, and a mean heavy that can make good use of Mortality. Submerge and again their independence takes the pressure off of eGrim and require less investment in Trollblood support pieces.

This is a very sketchy idea at present that needs tearing apart and putting back together again. I would love to have Rok in the list for some beserk action and the ability to Primal Snapjaw when it's needed. The blitzer feels at home with eGrim, and the idea of having a trinity of heavy beasts very much appeals. If I took out Rok, I'd add a unit of Scouts, a Chronicler and a Swamp/Night Troll as a fury battery.

Hunters Grim (+4)Runebearer 2Blitzer 9Rok 11Gatorman Posse 9Wrongeye & Snapjaw 9Pyg Bushwhackers 8Sons of Bragg 6

Alternatively, drop WE&SJ for a 2nd GMP - then Rok seems less appealing, in which case a Slag and five other points on a Storm/Pyre or Scouts.

The bottom line - GMP replaces the need for a lot of support and get as much if not more out Mortality when their prayers and abilities are taken into account. With the exception of his feat, eGrim doesn't need/support many of the Trollblood options, leaving him to get as much, if not more value from out of faction choices.

Also posted on the Muse on Minis forums:
http://museonminis.com/forums/index.php?topic=3375.0

Mabrothrax,
#TrollingTrollsWithTrolls (and this week, Gators)

Templecon Keynote... Mabrothrax ponders

Hurry up and wait

Well, it happened...

The new book will feature female Warlocks for Farrow and Gators as well as battle engines for both Minion pacts, a rather splendid heavy Nephalim character, units of mini warbeasts (as if shredder spam wasn't enough), Xerxis on a Rhino, what looks like a new Circle character beast...

our  'Lesser Warlock' Horgol Ironsmith, who'll have an affinity for (and reduce cost of) Slag and Pyre trolls:

Sounds like a fun guy, and I welcome the idea of Lesser Warlocks as pseudo Fury management. One pic that appeared was these guys... 

Highwaymen? I'm betting two hand cannons CRA or Gang, possible assault and maybe gunfighter. Scouts on steroids. At least I hope so, I was never sold on the light cavalry idea.

Another brief pic is this one of Calandra, with an axe (not her dagger, 'salt'), I assumed a sneaky hint of Epic Calandra, but apparently it's an old IKRPG piece of artwork. Can anyone verify this?

The only other things of note, for Trollbloods at least - "no reach in the book", "no warbeast units for trolls (in this book)"
No preview of a Warlock, though teh Skorne cavalry Warlock bodes well for a Troll on a Tuffalo, and te comments about crazy stuff and battle engines has me wondering.

Meanwhile the Hordes Faction dice have officially been previewed...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152227899715242.1073741837.23665620241&type=1

Lots to moan and speculate about on the forums. See you out there!

Mabrothrax
#TrollingTrollsWithTrolls

Mabrothrax vs. The Internet!

Say good night, troll

So I was writing a bit about my Calandra theme force and was actually going to praise the Winter Troll. And the Mountain King.

Then I looked at the most recent troll purchase on my desk... the Night Troll. A plan came to mind, to take on the internet and win!

Well, something like that. What I'm proposing is a report on the use of the various trollblood options considered 'less than good'.

I'm trolling trolls with trolls. Time to ignore the forums and put shit on the table (not literally of course)

I'll start by throwing in the Night Troll and Winter Troll to whatever I play at my local club.  Moving on I might add the MK, Bushwhackers, Skinner, Gunnbjorn, Thumper crews etc. You get the idea.

In all seriousness, I'm actually quite excited to put the Night Troll on the table - he's cheap, has free charges (okay, only against living stuff) and a bunch of stuff that we just don't see on trolls. I like things that are different and break from the norm. How I'd love to get a  warlock with Admonition to use with this guy!

I'm thinking about his animus on a hard-ass warlock (eGrissel or pMadrak?) and Mulg's protective fit, or inhospitable ground? What about a  throwing a trap down courtesy of the Hunters Grim? Sounds fun, even if not OMG it's broken! tech.

Expect fun times ahead. The Night Troll is in town and looking for a good, er, night out? I'll be back soon with the aforementioned Calandra Theme force update and the continuation of my Play it Painted pledge.

I'm Mabrothrax, and I Troll like I've got a pair.

#spreadthehatred
#trolltrollswithtrolls

Mabrothrax on Trollblood Warlocks 2013

Some sort of popularity contest?

This post is more a bit of fun than an in depth statistical analysis, because to be frank, I find those dull. After seeing the (ongoing) post about trolls needing to be fixed based on some tournament result stats I noticed the ‘Trollblood Tournaments 2014’ post, and went and looked back at the 2013 edition.

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?165564-Trollblood-Tournaments-2013

Over the course of a year people have posted their wins and losses with our faction’s Warlocks, some go into detail about their games, but not in any quantifiable way. What we end up with though, is an interesting snapshot of how the people who frequented the Trollblood forums in 2013 were doing, who they were playing with and winning with…

Here’s the final results with win/loss for each Warlock as reported:

Warlock	Games Won	Games Lost
pGrissel  -	30	12
eGrissel	12	6
pGrim	22	21
eGrim	30	32
pMadrak	39	18
eMadrak	53	25
pDoomshaper	100	35
eDoomshaper	44	24
Gunnbjorn	8	6
Borka	35	6
Calandra	21	9
Jarl	39	35

Representation: Which were the most played Trollblood Warlocks?

1.       pDoomshaper

2.       eMadrak

3.       Jarl

4.       eDoomshaper

5.       pMadrak

6.       eGrim

7.       pGrim

8.       pGrissel

9.       Borka

10.   Calandra

11.   eGrissel

12.   Gunnbjorn

No surprise that the most represented Warlock was pDoomshaper, and I’ll bet you a significant amount of those games were played with Runes of War. What is surprising, to me at least, is how high up Jarl is and how low on the list Borka is. Are people tiring of Family Reunion? Early last year you couldn’t move for all the Family Reunion lists!

I don’t see Jarl talked about that much that often, probably about the same as Calandra, however eGrissel, the marmite queen, comes up in conversation a lot. I guess it goes to show that what goes on on the boards isn’t a true reflection of what goes on on the tables (with one obvious exception).

At the bottom looking sad and lonely is the much maligned Gunnbjorn.

% Own Wins: Which Warlocks won most of their games played?

      Borka                  85%
pDoomshaper      74%
pGrissel  -            71%
Calandra              70%
eMadrak              68%
eGrissel                66.6%
eDoomshaper       65%
pMadrak              58%
Gunnbjorn            57%
Jarl                       53%
pGrim                   51%
eGrim                   48%

S    Strangely enough we see Jarl and Borka in opposite places, with Borka being the most successful warlock and Jarl just breaking even. eGrim’s less than stellar performance can be put down to him being new and the experimentation going on with him during 2013. Everyone else has a decent show of success, even Gunnbjorn!

The bottom three look like people struggling with ‘finesse’ or ‘control’ Warlocks, although that doesn’t account for Calandra’s strong position. I guess dice manipulation is a thing, who knew?

None of these stats really translate to anything other than some sort of popularity contest, and to a lesser extent giving us some glimpse into which casters (for whatever reason) are harder to win with. Personal experience will always contradict the general consensus. I’ve no doubt some of you play Gunnbjornn frequently, and sometimes win with him, or maybe eGrissel is your go-to girl who stomps your opponents, or maybe, just maybe, you’ve got it together to purchase a Runes of War list but just can’t get the success you read about.

The big switcheroo

If you are doing badly with a Warlock, what do you change? Is it the battlegroup or list as a whole that’s actually the problem and not your Warlock choice? Thinking back to the Hunters Grim challenge, it was clear that there was a lot of building to the feat and going for all the ranged pieces we have, but slowly a more combined arms approach was seen to be being adopted… with greater success.

Regarding the lists I’ve been playing and am continuing to play for the foreseeable future I’ve tried it both ways. With the Calandra theme force I found that I needed more angles, range and versatility and that the Warders were actually hampering me because I was convinced that they hold their own all the time (which to be fair they do, but that’s not always what you need).

Kind of the opposite happened with the pMadrak ARM 21 pseudo brick, where the list worked like a charm but was soooo sloooow. Not that pMadrak was a ‘problem’ but swapping for eGrissel has answered a problem I had whilst maintaining the lists functionality and offering a better ranged threat.

Try something new.

Most players will have their favourite Warlocks, and probably have their tournament lists more or less locked in for the next 6 months, but there’s always casual games – which are R&D for competitive play really, so how about you take one of those less popular/less successful (either by the stats above or better yet your local meta) Trollblood warlocks and give them a shot?

I got to be honest and say I’m comfortable with my current warlock selection, but if I get 10+ comments I’ll try someone different and document my experiences with whoever semi-regularly.

You decide out of these who I should go for:

·         Jarl

·         Hunters Grim

·         Gunnbjorn

·         pDoomshaper (NOT in RoW)

I’m done, enough rambling.

Keep rolling Tough, #PlayitPainted2014, and for the good of the interwebz #SpreadtheHatred

Mabrothrax

Mabrothrax Muses - State of the faction in competitive play

Are Trolls failing at SR?

An interesting post appeared on the PP forums recently, titled “Faction Balance in 2013 – AKA PP fix Trolls for competitive play already”

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?187173-Faction-Balance-in-2013-AKA-PP-Fix-Trolls-for-Competitive-Play-Already

Based on some data gathered by an published on endgame gaming and subsequently Muse on Minis the post begins…

Here it is, y'all, statistical proof that Trolls are lagging behind: http://museonminis.com/numbers-2013-wmh-balance/

To quote the article: "The performance of Trolls as a faction in SR is shockingly bad, though it is heartening to see their performance in Hardcore." 

Sure, Trolls do well in hardcore, but the majority of tournaments were SR 2013. More tournies, more numbers, better data... and Trolls performing well below the curve. I don't expect PP to own that Trolls are behind -- big whup, they're better than the awfulness that they were in MK I -- but it's time to start rolling out the power releases for the blue brutes. Recent releases like warders have helped, but there's a long way to go to fixing things there overall. 

Now, I find it hard to really get on with posts that complain about power levels but this one obviously piqued my interest. Are Trolls honestly in bad shape compared to other factions?

Since (and before) Gargantuans I think it’s fair to say that there’s been some stagnation in the faction – at least as far as the forums represent it – with the same combinations, lists, ideas and so on thrown up over and over again. The releases from the past year haven’t really done much to change things.

• For those who’ve adopted them, Warders have become the must have epitome of Trolls resilient play style.
• Hunters Grim don’t seem to have had any major tournament success, despite the initial enthusiasm.
• The Mountain King… (it’s all been said before)
• And so on.

Personally, I like the Gargantuans releases I’ve used to date and found them effective. Continuing through the post I found this on the second page…

The problem is Runes of War. In my opinion it is being overplayed.

If you look at the Trollbloods forum, every time someone posts a problem or wants some advice on how to deal against a certain list, one of the answers seems to always be Runes of War... It's a great list, but if you have someone in your meta who plays this list, they will know how to deal with it. 
There are options in the faction that I think are really being overlooked and because players focus on Runes of War as their main list they become blind to the faction as a whole. 

I have to admit, that the obsession with the Runes of War bugs me. Clearly the combination of a skilled player using a previously overlooked list with the hysteria inducing viral nature of the internet has taken its toll on the Trollblood online community.

I have seen Runes of War (paired with Family Reunion, all models unpainted incidentally) do badly at a 32 person tournament I ran last year – funnily enough placed only slightly above someone playing Gunnbjorn. Come to think of it, I’ve not seen Trolls do well at all in any event I’ve attended. Myself, I’ve yet to break the ‘bottom of the top 50%’ bracket.

But before we blame the ‘theme force of win’, here’s a rather succinct reply to the above…

I disagree, I think Runes of War isn't actually played enough. It gets mentioned a lot on the Forums but that doesn't mean people are actually playing it all that often. It's a very expensive list to buy the models for and lots of people aren't willing to make that step (which is fair, money is money after all). Runes of War is not the sort of list that you can just 'learn' to beat by playing against it a bunch. It's probably the best list available to Trolls and if it's played well it's absolutely ball busting. Skill is still the number one factor that determines success in this game and a well played Runes of War list is an amazing thing. Just look at Flanzer from WMW. 

How does one player misrepresent the faction though? Flanzer is using the same models available to every Trollblood player. He doesn't have some kind of supernatural advantage that allows him to win where other Trollblood players fail. He's just a better player. If you want to win with Trollbloods why not aspire to be a better player like Flanzer? It sounds like a jerkish thing to say but it applies to literally every faction: play better and you'll win more.

This is a game primarily based on skill and the best way to win is to practice and get better at the game. The fact that Flanzer can compete successfully at the highest level of play with Trolls shows that it is possible to do so. 
It's also worth bearing in mind that Trollbloods worst match up (Cryx) is the most popular faction in the game. That is a rough position to start from and I don't think many players have explored Trolls' anti-Cryx tech as much as they should have. Not to say it hasn't been explored at all, just not as much as it should have. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this game is deep and if you think you've tried every option then you're wrong. 

Trolls are actually a surprisingly difficult faction to play and write lists for. They're a much higher skill cap faction than they tend to get credit for and coming up with a good Troll list is surprisingly hard. Trolls have gotten some awesome releases lately. Warders are the obvious one but people are now coming around to older releases like the Storm Troll and Sons of Bragg that had previously been mostly ignored. It's a good time to be a Troll player and I think if the community puts its mind to it we can build some good lists, get some good practice and make 2014 a much more successful year. 

This is the best advice there is. Play more and be open minded. Whilst we can argue round and round about the inherent power level of any given faction and it’s options, there is no substitute for experience. 

No amount of posting on forums or reading other peoples lists will make you a better player (and by extension, Trollbloods perceived as a more successful faction).

I have a lot to learn. I consider myself a competent player, but I have yet to face every faction in competitive play, in each scenario, with each possible list. 

I have yet to use every combination of Trollblood units/beast/warlocks etc. I still don’t get eGrim, I do like the Mountain King and Calandra’s NQ theme list, I don’t own eMadrak or Runes of War.

In a few weeks I’ll be attending Smogcon where I’m entering the Iron Gauntlet and Hardcore tournaments, I don’t expect to do exceptionally well, but I’m going to learn a lot by throwing myself into the ring with players who can and want to compete at the higher level.

The question still remains whether or not Trolls are a weak faction in need of fixing. 

Whilst the internet is raging over the answer I’ll be asking my own questions: how can I fix my own game to be a stronger player (with Trolls)?

Keep rolling Tough!

Mabrothrax

Mabrothrax Plays it Painted 2014

Happy new year!

Survive the hangovers and excessive spending? Good. Now stop what you're doing and go paint some models.

Last year I very much got into the spirit of 'play it painted' and quite honestly say, that with one exception, every game I played last year I played with painted models. I am therefore made of win (even if my win/loss ratio isn't).

So, this year I shall continue to play it painted and keep a mini blog here of what I'm working on - for Trollbloods anyway, I dabble in other factions, but not to any great extent.

I will not play a game with unpainted Trolls this year.

This month I have on my desk...

Calandra (painted but being re-based)

Epic Grissel

Unit of Runeshapers #2

Unit of Warders #2

Kithkar

I have no firm plans to purchase any troll stuff in the next few weeks, but I might pick up Raluk Moorclaw when my local store gets him. I'm waiting eagerly for the eventual release of the Sorcerer.

Lists for 2014

Continuing from my previous posts and ramblings, I intend to spend a chunk of time playing the Calandra theme force Evolutionary Elementalism, as well as developing the eGrissel Warders brick/ARM 21 spam list.

I might on occasion go back to pMadrak or eDoomshaper for the odd friendly game, maybe even eGrim (who I still don't get).

It's hard to speculate on any new releases for Trollbloods or Hordes in general, and I think we'll have lots to talk/rant/cry about once Vengeance hits. Maybe spoilers and teasers will start to filter through in the next few months. Will we get a '3' Warlock? Will there be a Hordes book in 2014? What are Troll Highwaymen? 

My gut says we'll have to wait a while for any of this, possibly even until 2015. Only time will tell.

Well, I'm getting back to painting. So should you.

Keep rolling Tough, 

Mabrothrax

“Dude looks like a Lady” - Mabrothrax on eGrissel vs pMadrak

eGrissel & Armour Spam Discussion continued:

So we all know (or should at least) that armour stacking is generally something Trollbloods can do well and do often. The key components are usually the Kriel Stone and the Earthborn and Janissa combo.

With the Warders being a mighty ARM 17/19 (Battle Driven) they get to the key ARM 21 under the Stone’s aura. As has been discussed before here and elsewhere ARM 21 is difficult to deal with, significantly more so than ARM 17 – 20.

What makes Warders so significant in this is that they are cheap, and we can start to build a spam* list.

These are the options for that magical ARM 21 (when within the Kriel Stone’s aura)

Warders

Mulg

Bouncer

Mountain King

War Wagon

Depending on circumstance and the use of Janissa’s Wall with the Earthborn you can have an ARM 20/22 EBDT, or give any of the above an additional +2 ARM. For the purpose of this discussion I’m going to assume that like in my own lists (going by character restrictions) Janissa is elsewhere and the EBDT therefore becomes a less desirable piece.

My pMadrak list:

This is what I have used with varying degrees of success. Whilst it hasn't gotten as many victories as I would have liked, it has conceded few models, stood up to a number of severe thrashings, and weathered many storms giving people a real headache.

The issue I have above all others is the speed of the Warders. I know all the naysayers bemoaned the meagre SPD 4 and will point and say ‘told you so’, but I would in return utter ‘tish’ and ‘fipsy’.

One unit of SPD 4 Warders is manageable. Two units at SPD 4 is the problem. It hurts, frankly.

As I said at the end of my last post I was seriously considering swapping pMadrak for eGrissel… so, let’s get on with it then.

I want a speed buff, and whilst prime Grissel and Jarl offer very solid options, I want to go for Epic Grissel. Her spell Dash gives all my warriors a simple and effective speed bonus. Beyond this, her feat obviously adds to the ARM spam theme (as well as giving a small speed bonus in the form of an out-of-activation move).

The less obvious thing is her low spell count. I’m not going to be making hard choices on how to spend her Fury, and as such will have plenty to keep the Kriel Stone as full as possible. Add in some decent defensive stats and a nice gun with interesting effects and I’m certain the Marshall of the Kriels is the lady for me.

Looking back over the list, the double Warders, Mulg, max Stone + UA and twin Bouncers are staying. I like them and how they work; they are the ARM 21 core.

Rok is an often overlooked beast. I really like the way he complements the other beasts with his Primal animus, which also covers the lack of buffs available in eGrissel’s spell list. For the time being he’s staying in the list, but I might in the future experiment with a War Wagon.

The last model in the list is the Runebearer. In the pMadrak list he was there to mini-feat first turn and cast Sure Foot, allowing Madrak to set up the Kriel Stone, and then obviously help by reducing the cost of Carnage. With eGrissel, I don’t have an expensive upkeep spell to set up and she has one more point of Fury… Dash will almost certainly be cast most if not all turns, but I’m not convinced that I need the Runebearer. I know, 2 points to save one fury per turn, maybe two. My gut says I don’t need him.

If I took out the Runebearer, what would I replace him with? A Kithkar? Triggering Righteous Vengeance should by virtue of the list be a rare occurrence, and without Fennblades to buff he seems a little wasted. I don’t think the Chronicler does much here either.

Two Sorcerers strikes me as an interesting option, each adjunct to a unit of Warders. They can remove those upkeeps that threaten my boys, and with two lots of Windwall (removing Pathfinder) in play, eGrissel’s Inhospitable Ground could cripple an opponent on a vital turn. The list lacks magical weapons as well, which they provide. Could be fun to try out. Sadly there’s still no sign of the Sorcerer model on the PP release schedule which means the earliest we’ll see him is currently March 2014. Boo.

So those are my thoughts. I will put them on the table and play with them in due course and get back to you. If anyone has any ideas or experience with similar lists and playstyle, please comment!

Till then, keep rolling Tough, and remember to #SpreadTheHatred

*Spam vs Skew.

Skew is a well-known concept – take one (or a few) thing in your force and buff one of its abilities through the roof, whereas spamming is taking an excess of something to the point of it being impossible to deal with. 

Yours Is No Disgrace (LTC Fail post)

Mabrothrax's LTC Fail.

Excuses

Well, first let’s get the shameful news out of the way… the team I played for came last of 12. Both my team mates lost all 4 of their games and I only won one. Overall I placed 28^th of 36, which isn’t amazing either. Actually, one of our team members got the day of the tournament wrong and missed the first round, it was all downhill from there.

There is no substitute for a good night’s sleep. Going into a long day of full on playing whilst exhausted and cranky is not the best way to do things. Be prepared!

I did thoroughly enjoy the day and had some great games and came away with some new ideas and more experience, so it wasn’t all that bad…

Round 1 pMadrak vs Cygnar (Siege Trial by Fired theme list tier 4)

Major Markus ‘Seige’ Brisbane

Triumph

Ironclad

Squire

Journeyman Warcaster

Hunter

Journeyman Warcaster

Charger

Captain Arlan Strangeways

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages

Arcane Tempest Officer

10 Long Gunners

4 Field Mechaniks

The scenario was Close Quarters.

I didn’t know this new theme force, and the three trenches setup in close proximity (touching) my opponent’s flag was a blatant move to entice me to his corner.

Being the first game, being tired and rushed to get to the venue and slightly disorientated had me making seriously stupid mistakes. I set up one unit of warders to go for his flag and challenge siege, but with a handy piece of rough terrain in the way… and on the second turn I didn’t actually move pMadrak into contact with my own flag and failed to score. Yeah, that bad.

To be frank, once I’d given away the missed CP it was over. I somehow let a journeyman warcaster survive to contest as well. I lost the game 5-2.

On the plus side the ARM 21 brick was virtually unkillable and it took my opponent forever to take down one unit of Warders, and even with Siege’s feat he still had a hard time inflicting any damage.

Round 2 pMadrak vs Cryx (pSkarre)

Pirate Queen Skarre

Deathjack

Skarlock

10 Bane Thralls

Bane Thrall Officer & Standard

10 Mechanathralls

10 Mechanathralls

Necrosurgeon + Stitch Thralls

Necrosurgeon + Stitch Thralls

10 Blood Witches

Blood Hag

Warwitch Siren

Warwitch Siren

Satyxis Raider Captain

3 Scrap Thralls

Saxon Orrik

Scenario: Into the Breach

Cryx are a pain, but they don’t scare me all that much. To be honest I expected to be able to attrition this one like a charm, all it would take is using a combination of Madrak’s feat and the careful use of the bump animus to grab a juicy 2CP in the zone. At least, that was the plan.

You know how in some games you feel totally disconnected from your opponent? He played his force, I played mine and the interaction was minimal. Skarre ran for the flag and grabbed an early CP, I sat in the zone and went about slowly trying to clear it. Things were going well until Skarre’s feat turn where I lost a decent chunk of my force and went from being outnumbered to overwhelmed. Ther was no way I was getting any CPs from the zone now. However, Skarre had moved from the flag to the centre of the table and was in clear range for Madrak to step up and have a go. Being 1-0 down and with very little chance to win on control I went for the assassination.

Madrak charged Skarre with 5 fury and failed to hit with all his attacks. He was then brutally murdered in return.

Balls.

Round 3 Calandra vs Skorne (pMorghul)

Master Tormentor Morghoul

Basilisk Krea

Cyclops Brute

Bronzeback Titan

Molik Karn

Tiberion

Titan Gladiator

6 Paingiver Beast Handlers

6 Paingiver Beast Handlers

Extoler Soulward

Scenario: Supply and Demand

 Now this was a fun game. I’ve played Lewis before where he used a 35 point version of the same list and was comfortable in knowing my opponent and his army. Admittedly the Calandra list might not have been the best choice here, but I didn’t want to be locked in for the fourth round.

Early on the Runeshapers took out my opponent’s objective scoring me an early 1 CP. The rest of the game saw the ‘piece trade’ happen smoothly with each of us throwing beasts at each other, but in the long run his heavies out lasted my lights, and the bronzeback (just) managed to one round the Mountain King., also, early on the Runeshapers and the Storm Troll put some serious hurt on Morghul himself dropping him to two health.

Despite Star Crossed being up my opponent slowly wore me down and I couldn’t quite capitalize on the 1 CP lead or Morghul being practically dead. Then he managed to destroy my objective making it 1-1. Soon after Dice Down was called and I lost on the third Tie breaker as he had more points in the zone.

Round 4 pMadrak vs Legion of Everblight (pVayl)

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight

Succubus

Seraph

Scythean

Naga Nightlurker

Typhon

Gatorman Witch Doctor

6 Blight Nyss Hex Hunters

10 Blighted Nyss Legionnaires

Captian Farilor & Standard

Spawning Vessel and 6 Acolytes

Scenario Chemical Reaction

I know full well what Vayl and her list is all about and knew basically it would be a grind, which it was. Despite all his beasts and spells and broken abilities I slowly weathered the losses of Mulg and Rok whilst Warders and Bouncers surrounded Vayl (and Typhon) and eventually splatted her.

Not much else to say here really. I won a game, at last.

Overall thoughts.

I played badly. There’s no getting around it, I needed more sleep and time to relax beforehand. I had one of those epic dice fails in the Cryx match, and mishandled a turn in the Skorne match that probably cost me the game.

The pMadrak list is amazingly hard to deal with, it just soaks up so much damage. Despite this, I found it hard to capitalise on my opponent’s frustration and the Speed 4 Warders desperately wanted a buff. pMadrak works perfectly well in the list and with his feat on a crucial turn can work wonders, however, I am seriously considering keeping the list as is but swapping pMadrak for eGrissel…

This is an early stage ‘test it in my head’ thing.

The pros of eGrissel:

·         One more point of Fury

·         Dash (SPD +1) for the Warders

·         Fell Blast adds some ranged threat, but not much

·         Feat takes the ARM 21 spam idea and turns it up to 11 (well, 23) for one turn

The Cons:

·         Slightly less tough than pMadrak considering lack of Sure foot etc

·         Without Crusher or Carnage there’s no melee support going on

·         Feat is a bit ‘meh’

·         Erm… I don’t have her model yet?

Regarding the Calandra Theme list, I wish I’d had the balls to put it on the table at least one more time. Funnily enough I found the Warders in the list (in this game and others before) to be somewhat out of place. They are amazingly good, but here… well I found myself wishing I had more Runeshapers and another Storm Troll for some electro leap stuff. That’s a straight swap that I’m going to try out. It has some obvious benefits: another point of fury in the Kriel Stone to start with, more ranged threat, more coverage for Janissa’s Force Lock ability, more electro leaps…

I know I’m losing hard as nails weapon masters, but sometimes you have to go with your gut.

So there you have it. I’ll be trying the alternate Calandra list at my local club soon, and perhaps the eGrissel/pMadrak swap soon. Time to really get these lists to work in preparation for Smogcon in Feb 2014!

Keep rolling tough!