Battle Report: Morvahna v. Kaelyssa

Kaelyssa lowered her runespear cannon and stood in disbelief, ignoring the clamor of the battle around her as the Tharn battle-shrieks and skinwalker howls mingled with the terse shouts of her Mage Hunter officers while they tried to restore order to their ranks.  Her target, the coppery-haired woman with the beautiful, twisted smile gave her a mocking quirk of her lips, unfazed from her attack, having transferred the injury to one of her warbeasts. Just in front of her, her Griffon strove to keep the frenzied white Warpwolf from tearing it to pieces, and the heavy thump of the Phoenix's tread behind her mixed with the whirr of its halo cannon recycling. 
   The druid woman chanted and green, circular, jagged runes revolved around her outstretched hand before the ground under Kaelyssa split open and erupted in a thick, wild tangle of vines and plant growth tipped with long, razor-sharp thorns. Without her power field to protect her, Kaelyssa leapt out of the way, but not before she found herself bleeding from over a dozen wounds. As her feet hit the ground and she staggered, the wood-and-stone form of the druid construct, ablaze from the flame of the Phoenix's cannon, rushed forward. The inscribed runes on its stone surfaces glowed with an arcane wash of green energy that it drew directly from a ley-line of Orboros before unleashing it in a blast of primal power. In its wake, plant life exploded in a rush of verdant growth. The elemental energy caught Kaelyssa with all the force of a giant's fist, and as she fell, the last thing she remembered was the sensation of being ensnared within a wild tangle of grasses and sharp-thorned vines...

The Lists (35 points):

Morvahna the Autumnblade Pureblood Warpwolf Gorax Woldwatcher Tharn Bloodtrackers Wolves of Orboros Wolf Pack Leader + Standard Bearer Wolf Lord Morraig Warpborn Skinwalkers Swamp Gobbers	Kaelyssa, Night's Whisper Phoenix Griffon Stormfall Archers Mage Hunter Strike Force Mage Hunter Commander Mage Hunter Assassin Ghost Sniper x2 Nayl Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Initial Thoughts:
Initially this was supposed to be a 50 pt. game against Tim, so I had made my list earlier in the day - a Baldur list I was looking forward to trying out.  Unfortunately, Tim was already engaged in what was meant to be a short 15-pt. game that ran much longer than anticipated by the time I arrived at the store. Since I still wanted to get a game in, we settled for a 35-pt game to see if we could get that done. This meant having to come up with a new list on the spot. Deciding that I wanted to run something different, and because I've only tried Morvahna a handful of times, I pulled her out as my caster of choice and opted to run a mostly infantry-heavy list with only a few warbeasts (1 heavy and 2 light... a definite change from my usual choices) to go for less fury management.

((Apologies - Sorry, again, had no camera with me to take pics))

Deployment:
Tim won the roll, then opted to give me the first setup. Terrain was sparse. A hill on the left of my deployment zone, some ruins between the hill and Tim's deployment zone, and a forest on the right side between the two deployment areas.
Morvahna went in the center, with the Pureblood on her left, the Gorax on the right. To the far right, I set up my Wolves in a tight "brick" formation, just behind the Swamp Gobbers who would cover them. Morraig set up on their right-hand flank. On my left, I set up my Skinwalkers in a line formation.
For my AD, the Bloodtrackers set up on my left, just next to the hill and within 6 inches of Morvahna and far enough away from the Skinwalkers. The Woldwatcher deployed to the center and a tad to my right, to provide some cover.

For Tim's set-up, he placed Kaelyssa slightly off-center to my left, between his Phoenix and Griffon. Nayl and Eiryss went just ahead of her. The Stormfall archers set up to the rear on my left, with the Mage Hunter Strike Force and Assassin in front of them, just within a couple inches of the ruins.  On my right, Narn and both Ghost Hunter Snipers set up just behind the woods.
-  I declared the Mage Hunter Strike Force as the Bloodtrackers' prey.

Round 1:
I started by activating Morvahna. She cast Restoration on the Skinwalkers to give them the armor buff, cast Regrowth on the Bloodtrackers, held onto her last fury and advanced. The Pureblood and Gorax each ran slightly forward ahead of her on either side and each riled for an additional fury point. The Woldwatcher advanced more towards Morvahna and slightly ahead, but staying within 2" of her, then activated its Earth Blessing animus on itself to stay rooted in place and taking on its Stone Form for 21 armor.
   The Swamp gobbers advanced on a diagonal towards the center of the board and laid down a 5" AOE cloud of swamp gas. The Wolves of Orboros ran up behind the cloud to use it for cover, while Morraig rushed up past them and into the forward edge of the cloud to gain Stealth, thanks to his and his wolf mount's Prowl ability.
   The Bloodtrackers ran forward to place the ruins as cover between themselves and the Mage Hunter Strike Force, while the Skinwalkers then rushed up alongside, but out of melee range (to avoid terrifying my own unit).

Tim went. The Mage Hunter Strike Force advanced, partially using the ruins to cover a third of his force. With the Mage Hunter Commander leading them, however, I'd forgotten the whole unit had Phantom Seeker, which meant the ruins covering my bloodtrackers effectively didn't exist as their crossbow bolts fired right through the walls. The majority targeted the bloodtrackers while three targeted the skinwalkers. Bolts flew... in the end, every shot missed my bloodtrackers except for one killing shot, while the three fired at the skinwalkers missed or couldn't penetrate their heavy armor. (Tim had some terrible rolls here).
   The Stormfall archers advanced, but kept back and didn't fire, likely because they either couldn't draw a bead on my forces or were out of range.  The Mage Hunter Assassin darted around the ruins to the far left, trying to come about in a flanking maneuver.
   Eiryss and Nayl advanced somewhat up the center of the board and towards my right in a cautious advance. Eiryss put a Phantom Bolt into the Pureblood Warpwolf for an automatic 3 pts. of damage, something which put him in a foul mood.
   Kaelyssa activated, casting Phantom Hunter on her Phoenix (to allow for more targeting without LOS shenanigans) and advancing slightly behind Nayl and Eiryss, holding onto her Focus to keep her Power Field running for the armor boost.  The Griffon and Phoenix advanced on a course towards my warbeasts, but couldn't get into range.
   On the far right, Narn and a Ghost Sniper took up positions in the forest, getting ready to target Morraig and the Wolves while the second Sniper managed a run and rushed Morraig to bog him down.

Round 2:
Morvahna leached fury, upkept her two spells and regrew the dead bloodtracker, bringing the unit back up to full strength.
    The Pureblood Warpwolf activated first. Realizing from our previous game that Tim was trying to get Nayl  into range of Morvahna, and that such a move would almost certainly kill me if she lost her fury, I was determined to stop that from happening. Nayl's stealth meant he was too far away to target with the Pureblood's death howl... but Eiryss wasn't, and Nayl was in a perfect diagonal line away from her. A quick check of Morvahna's control range indicated I could get within sight of Eiryss to target her... the Pureblood regenerated a point of damage and then loped forward before letting out a flesh rending howl. The spray caught both Eiryss and Nayl as intended, two boosts apiece meant both were hit, and the howl warped both to shreds. At that point, Tim realized my maneuver had crippled him far more than I'd initially intended... Kaelyssa was within 8" of Nayl, which meant that when the soulless elf died, he stripped her of all her focus, instead!
Now came the matter of how to free up Morraig. Thinking it over for a little bit, I charged the Gorax at the Sniper keeping Morraig tied up. The initial charge missed, but the follow up caught the elf and dashed him to pieces. With the enemy model no longer engaging the wolf lord, Morraig charged the Ghost Sniper and Narn. Morraig's blade killed the Sniper and then cleaved Narn in twain (whereupon I forgot that I could've moved Morraig another 5" afterwards thanks to his Light Calvary rules) leaving the Wolves free and clear to advance on that side of the table, which they promptly did, still under the cover of the swamp gobbers' gas bellows.
   Morvahna then activated and popped her feat, Seeds of Destruction, while moving up to place the bloodtrackers and several of the mage hunter strike force in range. She ditched two fury, leaving her at one, and stayed close to the woldwatcher. The watcher moved forward to close any charge lanes towards my caster, then used its animus and stone form yet again.
   Now the warpborn skinwalkers ran forward to put themselves into melee range of the Mage Hunter Strike Force (and to hopefully block the Griffon's advance by giving Tim a potential target) which had the advantage of striking terror into the unit as they failed their command check. With the Mage Hunter unit now fleeing in terror, the Bloodtrackers charged the targets they could see while one charged the Mage Hunter Assassin to stop (or at least bog down) her flank - she failed to connect. Two Mage Hunters died to the bloodtrackers, whereupon they each immediately exploded in a tangle of vicious vegetation that took out several more adjacent Mage Hunters, thanks to Morvahna's feat, and provided forests that now blocked a good number of my forces from the Stormfall Archers' LOS.

Tim then activated, still smarting from his loss of focus for the turn, which meant he had nothing to allocate to his warjacks and couldn't upkeep the phantom hunter spell. Deciding as he usually does in such situations to go for a make-it-or-break-it maneuver, he set to his activations. I had thankfully prepared myself for the possibility he would try something like that.
   His first action was to charge several of the Stormfall Archers at the Warpborn Skinwalkers. While they passed the command check to enter melee, they were unable to do any damage to the now Armor 20 heavy infantry. The rest moved up and positioned themselves to attack when they could once the forests disappeared next round. The Mage Hunters activated, but failed to rally.
   Tim advanced the Griffon up to engage the Pureblood Warpwolf and connected with its shield, doing minimal damage to the warbeast. The Phoenix then activated and advanced to the side to get LOS on Morvahna, then fired its Halo Cannon at her. The attack connected, whereupon the Woldwatcher used its Shield Guard ability to leap in front of her and take the shot, suffering only minimal damage but catching fire by the blast.  Not to be dissuaded Kaelyssa moved up slightly and fired her runespear cannon at Morvahna and connected, whereupon Morv transferred the damage to the Gorax in her stead and activating its Pain Response. With that, Tim's actions were over.

Round 3:
Morvahna again leached fury, but I had too much. Rather than leave one point on the woldwatcher, I left a point on the Pureblood, reasoning it was likely to pass the threshold check. That would go against me as the Pureblood frenzied, whereupon it launched itself against the Griffon and proceeded to batter against its shield for little effect. I upkept Morvahna's spells and considered what to do next.
With the Pureblood therefore "out of commission" this turn, I considered my options before activating.  See an opening for an assassination run, I took it since I wasn't likely to get a better shot at Kaelyssa with her power field down and in range before her 'jack came after me next turn.
Morvahna advanced to put Kaelyssa within range, then cast Eruption of Life at the elf. I boosted to hit (and good thing I did, too), then debated whether to boost the damage before doing so. It was a gambit, as it would leave Morvahna without fury. The damage did a fair amount to Kaelyssa, but the Elf was still standing, and now I was within a good charge lane for the Phoenix and Griffon. With nothing else to lose, the woldwatcher, still ablaze, advanced to close the charge lane, then targeted Kaelyssa with its Elemental Blast. Again I boosted to hit, just making the roll, before boosting the damage.
Kaelyssa went down.

Conclusion:
Something of a bitter irony for Tim, having fallen victim to the exact ploy he had meant to use against me - and not even something I had known would occur. I had thought his own models were immune to Nayl's Arcane Annihilation death throe, but evidently not according to the wording of the effect. I'll admit that between that and the poor die rolls he got, the game turned against him pretty quickly. It just wasn't his game this night. I'm pretty sure from now on I'll never see Nayl anywhere near his caster again.

On my end, I'm very happy with just about all the models I fielded, even if the Wolves of Orboros did nothing this game besides advance in ranks. I've finally seemed to get the hang of the Warpborn Skinwalker, having now learned the hard way how to use them as intended, to tarpit enemy models rather than to really destroy them. Getting to use their Terror ability was an unexpected treat, though.  The bloodtrackers are even more fun when I can run them with little fear, knowing I can usually regrow the unit, regardless of how many get shot down.
Looking back, I also realize the Swamp Gobbers probably weren't that great a choice for this game, since Retribution, like many Cygnar gun-line lists, can gleefully ignore concealment effects and go right for the covered units, anyways. But for one measly point, they didn't ruin my list, either.

This game marks the first time I actually remembered the woldwatcher's Shield Guard ability, and planned on using it from the get-go. However, I'm a bit annoyed with myself for somehow all this time having overlooked the fact that Morvahna has Sacrifical Pawn. D'oh! Next time, I plan on trying to get her into the thick of things and see if I can have her cut loose with her Harvest spell.

I think I may try running Morvahna a little more often to get a better hang of her, though I'm bound to come across an anti-upkeep list that'll make short work of my forces soon enough. Still, she makes for one nasty caster...

Battle Report: eKaya vs. Kara Sloan

 The Lists (30 pts.):

Kaya the Moonhunter Laris Feral Warpwolf Pureblood Warpwolf Warpwolf Stalker Tharn Bloodtrackers	Captain Kara Sloan Triumph Charger Hunter The Black 13th Strike Team Major Katherine Laddermore Stormguards

Initial Thoughts:
Having played Jeff's Cygnar once before (and having had Kaya's battlegroup blown to smithereens that last time), I had a rough idea of what I would be facing. That said, I opted to play a list I thought would be fun,  deliberately trying to make certain I did not build a list to specifically counter him (I gave him the option of facing Kaya or Baldur - he didn't care which). I remembered from last time that I would have to run my models more aggressively instead of trying to hang back and try my usual hit-and-run tactics if I was to avoid absolute defeat... it only got me killed in bits and chunks last time. I debated whether to use the Bloodtrackers or a Blackclad Wayfarer and Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper.  While the latter seemed better focused to do what I wanted, I really wanted to run an offensive unit since I hadn't for the last few games I'd played... I just wasn't sure the Tharn would last long enough to be of any use - lately they seemed to act mostly as cannon fodder. Throwing caution to the wind, I took the "Chicks With Sticks" anyways, figuring they had an above-average Defense that should mean roughly a 50/50 survival rate and besides... I just find them fun to use. So I set to overriding my usual mindset of semi-defensive play and prepared to adopt an offensive style that would mean charging Jeff's gunlines so he'd only be able to get off a single volley, maybe two... I reckoned the Warpwolves were resilient enough to be able to take it to the face and survive to dish it out in return.
The Stormguards and Katherine were a slight surprise to see in his list... I'd soon see how I did.

This was a completely casual game, so we took a long time debating our choices and actions, there were a few takebacks, and I asked another player who stopped to watch to please refrain from giving me his possible tactical advice. Overall, it made for a very interesting (and fun!) game, with the tide of battle shifting back-and-forth several times. By the game's end, I no longer cared if I won or lost - at least I'd had a good time! 


Deployment:
Jeff won the roll and opted to take first deployment. Arrayed on the field were a hill in the center, two forests on both my sides of the board, and some ruins on either side of the table, one near the middle, the other just within Jeff's deployment zone to my left.
Jeff deployed his stormguards to my left, Kara and her 'Jacks in the center, and Katherine and the Black 13th on my right.
I deployed Kaya and my beasts in my center: Pureblood,  then Kaya, the Feral and Laris B2B, then the Stalker a tad off to the side.

Jeff AD'ed his Hunter to my far right in support of the Black 13th, and I placed my Bloodtrackers to my left near the forest and declared his stormguards to be their prey.


Round 1:
Jeff ran the Stormguards forward, advanced his 'jacks, Katherine, the Black 13th (with the Hunter hanging back behind them), and ran Kara as far forward as possible, getting her to the top of the far side of the hill for an excellent vantage point of the battlefield.

In response my Bloodtrackers ran into the forest to come out on the edge of the far side, hanging back in concealment and out of the Stormguards' charge range. The Stalker warped for Prowl, then ran forward into the forest on the other side, coming out on the edge so he had LOS, but stealth thanks to the forest.
Laris ran to the same forest, taking cover within the forest edge and behind a boulder. Kaya cast Shadow Pack, then cast Forced Evolution on the Feral Warpwolf, and used the last of her fury to Spirit Shift herself next to Laris and behind the cover of the boulder.
The Pureblood warped for Spell Ward and the Feral warped for Armor Spikes, and together both rushed the hill at a run, getting just to the edge so they had some cover behind it. I planned on making the Feral a target since it would be hard to hit, while I hoped to get the Pureblood into a perfect death howl position on the Stormguards, and if I was lucky, Kara.

Round 2:
Kara cast Refuge on herself. Taking aim at the Pureblood, she fired her magelock rifle and scored a nasty hit on the warpwolf, whereupon refuge activated and she raced off the hill and behind Triumph. Triumph aimed, negated the Pureblood's stealth from Shadow Pack and opened fire with a boosted attack, also striking the unfortunate warbeast. Katherine then charged forward, up over the hill, and unleashed a voltaic blast from her lance's accelerator into the Pureblood before finishing him off with her assault with her voltaic lance. Scratch one Pureblood.
The Black 13th advanced again. Lynch fired his beacon flare at the Stalker, illuminating the beast and negating his stealth. Ryan and Watts opened fire with their weapons set for Brutal Damage. One shot hit the Stalker, doing decent damage to him. The Hunter then charged and engaged the Stalker, but failed to hit.
The Stormguards, realizing they were likely to be within range of a gang of angry warrior-women, skirted from the left side to the middle to act as a barrier between my forces and Kara.

Kaya activated, upkept her two spells, then cast Lightning Strike via Laris on both the Feral Warpwolf and the Stalker. The Stalker then activated and proceeded to tear the Hunter to pieces with its great sword and claws. The 'jack finished, the Stalker leaped forward straight into the midst of the Black 13th via sprint.
The Feral, meanwhile, looked to avenge its fallen packmate. Skirting to the left side of Katherine, making certain to leave a clear charge lane for the Bloodtrackers if necessary, the Feral maintained its armor spikes and proceeded to rip Laddermore's mount to bloody gobbets. Katherine dismounted just out of range of the Feral's claws and bite.  Laris took the advantage to charge forward and bring Katherine down to 1 health box... dammit, so close! He then Spirit Shifted back to Kaya.
With nothing left to do, the Bloodtrackers advanced. One attacked Katherine and finished the dragoon off. The others were just within range to lob several spears at the Stormguard. Two men fell to the Tharn javelins. So far, I felt the exchange had worked somewhat in my favor, despite the loss of my Pureblood. But now I was worried what would come next...

Round 3:
Kara upkept refuge and distributed focus. Then she activated her feat, Firing Squad, and attacked. Boosted ranged attack rolls all-around. Ouch. A well-aimed shot from her rifle, Spitfire, tagged the Feral up on the hill and did significant damage. Triumph took the granted attack from her hit, but automatically missed due to Shadow Pack. The Charger moved up onto the hill and opened fire on the Feral, also landing another hit and wiping out the Warpwolf's Spirit spiral. Uh-oh. Triumph missed on the second granted attack as well (thank you, Stealth). Then the warjack activated, aimed, and fired... and thankfully, missed.  The Stormguards charged up the hill and engaged the Bloodtrackers. The Bloodtracker leader died in the attack, as did a second. The Stormguard leader fired a voltaic blast from his sword that thankfully missed the grouping of bloodtrackers and deviated off to the side, missing completely.
The Black 13th maneuvered to place all of them within Kara's control range and opened fire on the Stalker... somehow, I'd forgotten all 3 members had gunfighter. D'oh... With all weapons set for Brutal Damage, Ryan's shot hit, Lynch's hit but failed to penetrate the armor, and Watts connected with only one of her two pistols. The damage was still pretty bad on the Stalker, with his Body Spiral gone and other damage scattered over him. But... he was still alive!

My turn now came, and now the issue of too much fury came into play. Kaya leached all the fury from the two warpwolves, but left 1 pt on Laris, figuring he was least likely to frenzy... whereupon the dice gods decided to go for a laugh and I blew the threshold check by one lousy point. Laris frenzied and rushed the Feral, taking a good-sized bite out of the warpwolf's haunches. Damn!
Kaya upkept her two spells, then had to consider how this was going to work...
The Stalker activated, regenerated his body spiral, warped for Berserk and attacked the Black 13th. The result was brutal. The initial strike killed Watts, then moved onto Lynch, killed him, then got a third attack that missed Ryan. The rest of the initial attacks missed the surviving member of the team, and I opted not to run the Stalker hot for fear of another frenzy the following turn.
Kaya activated, and proceeded to heal the Feral and the Stalker, 2 pts. apiece, restoring the Feral's Spirit spiral. The Feral activated, regenerated more of his own damage, and I took stock of the situation.... I wanted the Charger dead, but the Stormguards were an immediate threat to my Bloodtrackers. I went for broke, The Feral warped for Strength, then leapt at the Charger, seized the warjack in both hands, and flung it at the three nearest Stormguards. All three were crushed under several tons of metal, and the Charger fell to the ground. The Bloodtrackers activated, killed the remaining Stormguard, changed the prey to the fallen Charger and one charged it, ramming her spear into the innards and doing some minimal damage.  It was getting close, now.

Round 4:
Kara let go of refuge. After taking some time to determine his actions, Jeff activated his forces. The Charger climbed to its feet. Ryan attacked the Stalker and winged him with a Brutal Shot for two damage, reversing the healing Kaya had promoted. Then Kara activated, took aim, and with a single boosted shot of her magelock rifle, put a final boosted spell-scribed shell in the warpwolf stalker's head, killing him. Jeff debated whether to have Triumph slam the Feral or not, before finally firing again on the Feral and injured him instead, but not enough to down the wolf... just make him very close to dead, with ruined Body and Spirit spirals...
The Charger advanced and attacked the nearest Bloodtracker. A backhanded swipe of its hammer easily killed her.

Kaya upkept her two spells. The surviving Bloodtrackers then activated. Out of the Charger's reach, they advanced as far forward as they could, targeting Kara and throwing their javelins. One managed a lucky strike and struck home for seven points.

Laris ran forward, around the hill. Kaya activated, moved up and out into the open, in clear view of Ryan. She healed the Feral's damage Spirit spiral, then channeled a Dogpile on Triumph, but missed by one point. Knowing that if this failed I probably wouldn't get a second chance, Kaya still held onto her last fury point for a transfer that might save her life if she needed it, but I hoped I wouldn't. Measuring Kaya's control range indicated Triumph was just within reach of the Feral's charge range...
The Feral activated, regenerated his damaged body spiral so he was running 'at full capability,' and going for broke, kept his warp for Strength and declared a slam on Triumph. Rushing forward he boosted his slam, and rammed full-tilt into the warjack, sending it flying backwards and right into Kara...
...Doing EXACTLY enough damage to finish her off with the collateral damage.

Whew!

Conclusion:
It was a long game since we were taking our time, but damn, it was fun. Jeff played very well, and it got iffy as to who was gonna survive, especially as he started doing lots of damage to my warpwolves. The Bloodtrackers pleasantly surprised me, which they seem to do whenever I seem to think it's a mistake taking them.
Off-hand, I don't think either of us made any real mistakes. Shadow Pack saved my rear several times, despite Jeff's ability to counter it since he generally had to stand still to get the benefit, which allowed me to continue to advance. Forced Evolution, Armor Spikes, and the hill made my Feral Warpwolf one tough cookie, which saved him just long enough to get the finishing slam. Jeff managed to still do a lot of damage, and had a couple rolls shifted in his favor, I would've very likely lost.

I have to admit that I really enjoy games like these. The outcome is always in doubt, and it doesn't feel like you made some sort of rookie mistake that results in you getting wiped out on the second turn. If the new Unbound rules promote this sort of feeling even more, then I can't wait for a chance to eventually try it.
Next week, a 50 pt. game against Tim...

Battle Report: Baldur vs. pSeverius

 The scream of the Deliverers' rockets had died down, replaced instead with the screams of the Deliverers themselves as the Pureblood's death howl tore through them, joined by the blast of stone shards from the hands of the blackclad, leaving only tattered cloth and flesh in their wake.  Thick, black smoke drifted across the battlefield, the burning remains of a Sunburst ballista, blasted to pieces by the woldwyrd's arcane energy.
Off to Baldur's distant left, he could see Morraig's flanking charge had failed... the druid could not tell if the Wolf Lord still yet lived. But Morraig's charge had distracted the enemy long enough to let Baldur advance his forces. The woldwatcher was in dire shape, having suffered the brunt of the Menite attacks. The tenacious wold still advanced alongside the ponderous steps of its larger cousin, the woldwarden whose footfalls shook the ground as it strode past Baldur, an extension of his will.
From somewhere ahead the Grand Scrutator still directed his forces, and Baldur frowned as the Menite warjacks reformed, massing for the charge as the wolds moved to meet them. From the hills the Avatar of Menoth strode, ready to engage in battle.  A long, tough fight still loomed as Baldur called upon the power of the earth, fracturing and splitting it before him, sending it shuddering in all directions...

My first 50-point game... it was impressive, to say the least. Unfortunately, there was nowhere near enough time to finish it. I'd say we got about halfway through.  While my opponent was of the firm belief that I "won" the match, I don't think so - I'd say that though I had made some impressive gains, the game was nowhere near finished at the point when we had to end for the night - I still firmly believe it could've still swung either way, especially with a powerhouse like the Avatar of Menoth still on the board and ready to fight.

The Lists:

Baldur the Stonecleaver Feral Warpwolf Pureblood Warpwolf Woldwarden Woldwatcher Woldwyrd Druids of Orboros + Druid Overseer Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper Blackclad Wayfarer Wolf Lord Morraig

Grand Scrutator Severius Avatar of Menoth Reckoner Blessing of Vengeance Redeemer Deliverers (full unit) Deliverer Sunburst Crew x2 Choir of Menoth Covenant of Menoth Vassal of Menoth Protectorate Vassal Mechanik Gorman di Wolfe The Wrack

Initial Thoughts:
So, it was Schno's suggestion that perhaps I field Baldur, since he knew Baldur would be the biggest counter to his forces with his Solid Ground spell and he wanted to see how well he coped against it. Initially I had thought I might field Krueger (since he does enjoy frying himself some Menites), but if Schno was willing to try taking on Baldur, then I was game. Schno's army was planned around AOEs... LOTS of them. Baldur's ability to negate blast damage would be a huge counter to that.
The druids and the overseer were a must-take as well: Since it was Menoth, I was expecting to see infantry - lots of them - and given Menoth's propensity for setting things alight (namely, heretics, i.e., everyone else in the world), so anything that could shield my troops, drop my own AOE in return, AND get immunity to fire was a must-have. I expected to see the Avatar, it was a no-brainer, so I was planning on having my druids once again see if they could push/pull targets into optimum positions to hamper it.
For the warbeasts, the constructs were a given with Baldur, and I was itching to try out my woldwatcher - this seemed like the place to do it. Woldwyrd would have the advantage against the upkeep spells the Protectorate so loves, and the warpwolves were there to wreck face and take names; Feral for the big targets, Pureblood more for infantry and his ghostly warp.
Shifting Stones were there to provide healing and mobility, the Blackclad was another anti-infantry/fire immune/and beast-helping solo, and Morraig is, well, Morraig. A fast, hard-hitting and 15 hit point solo is always worth it.
So the plan going in... wipe out the infantry and hit the support units. Without his support units, I should have a much simpler time (I hate the Menoth support units with a burning passion that rivals Krueger's).
...Easier said than done, right?

The Battle:
So, I've learned that it generally works better for Circle to go first, so I opted for that. Most of my forces were set up in the middle, with ruins for cover to the left and right.  Morraig was deployed to my far left for a flank. The rest waited for advance deployment.
Schno placed his army's jacks in the front and center, with the deliverer's off to my right, one sunburst almost dead ahead, the other to my left on the hilltop. The supporting units and warcaster were, once again, firmly behind everything where I couldn't easily get to them. Not surprising.
For the AD, the Druids were put forward to screen everyone, and on a whim, I placed the woldwatcher as far forward and angled towards the deliverers - I was going to try and see if I could distract Schno and keep his attentions focused on the light warbeast instead of my other forces.

Since I cannot remember the full sequence of events, I'll try and give the highlights for each round, as best I can recall.

Round 1:
Advance! Morraig ran forward, using the ruins for cover - his objective was to try and take out the left-hand Sunburst. The druids advanced and immediately threw up counter magic, elemental immunity, and cloud effects. Baldur cast Solid Ground and Rapid Growth for additional protection while placing a Stone Skin on the Woldwatcher for added durability. The warpwolves and wolds advanced under the cover of the clouds.  The woldwatcher put itself front and center and took on Stone Form - for ARM 23! Not bad for just a light! The Shifting Stones teleported the Woldwarden forward and the Blackclad shifted to the right for additional flanking.

Schno then went, throwing up his assorted benefits on his warjacks and advancing... Severius cast Vision on the Blessing of Vengeance and put up Eye of Menoth whereupon he took the bait and opened fire on the Woldwatcher, realizing he couldn't hit my other models. The Deliverers, Redeemer, Reckoner, and Sunburst crews all attacked... and when the smoke cleared, the little guy was beaten and battered and naturally, on fire... but still standing! Morraig took a five boxes of damage from a lucky pot-shot by the other Sunburst crew, but the Wolf Lord wasn't down yet. The Avatar advanced towards Morraig in case I opted to run him around the ruins and at his Choir and Covenant, but stayed at enough of an angle that I couldn't get a charge on him... not that I was going to try for that! The Avatar tried to hit Morraig with the Eye of Menoth, but was just a half-inch out of range, lucky for me.


Round 2: 
The woldwatcher continued to burn as the Stone Keeper moved forward and repaired some of the cracks and damage, restoring its damaged Mind spiral. The Woldwyrd advanced and fired on the Blessing of Vengeance, stripping away the Vision spell, but unable to damage the jack otherwise. However, the warpwolves went next, ghostly warped into the ruins and took cover, and the Pureblood got off a howl at the Blessing of Vengeance... wrecking its repulsor shield now that its defensive spell had been stripped away.  The woldwarden advanced and laid down a forest alongside the druids who advanced and did the same as they had the previous turn, shielding the majority of the forces. The Blackclad ran for a forest on the right, staying out of Deliverer range.
The woldwatcher, meanwhile, advanced and fired an elemental burst at the Deliverers, catching three of them, The lead deliverer died and burst into a forest, as did the second, providing my forces with yet more concealment before the wold again took on its Stone Form. Baldur maintained his upkeeps and advanced.  Morraig, however, broke for the hill at a run, skirting past the Avatar of Menoth and coming up behind the hill and right on top of the Sunburst crew, placing them into melee and preventing them from firing next turn.
On Schno's turn Gorman Di Wolfe rushed up to help the Deliverer crew and the Avatar stayed put, uncertain of where to go. The Deliverers had to advance past the forest that was once their companion and half fired once again on the woldwatcher, joined by the other Sunburst crew... and yet again, the little guy refused to fall despite the beating. The Blackclad ran for the forest, seeking cover behind a boulder as he prepared to get into range....

Rounds 3 & 4:
Memory's a little fuzzy here...
Morraig swung at the Sunburst crew, hoping to whittle them down, but no luck - he whiffed on the attack. Gorman Di Wulfe arrived moments later and blinded him with a Smoke Bomb. With his Defense reduced, the Wolf Lord was an easy target for the Avatar of Menoth as it charged up the hill to finish him off.
Half of the Deliverers fired on the Blackclad, who was saved by his cover while the rest fired, and missed, at their intended targets.

The Vassal Mechanik appeared to repair the damaged Blessing of Vengeance, getting its shield back up and active. The Covenant of Menoth along with the Choir meant my Druids of Orboros couldn't get close enough to use their Force bolts, since they prevented me from using my spells on much of his army.
Meanwhile, the Pureblood used its Ghostly warp to pop out from the ruins and issue a death howl at the unit of Deliverers, who fared very poorly against the attack. What was left was nearly mopped up to a man by the Blackclad who advanced and stone sprayed down the survivors.
The Shifting Stones healed the Woldwatcher again. Together, it and the Woldwarden advanced to shield the  and Baldur by placing themselves in the charge lanes of the Menite 'jacks. The druids parted to let the constructs through while placing themselves into position where they could hopefully be out of the Covenant's range next turn to be able to use their force bolt spells.
The Woldwyrd meanwhile opened fire on the Sunburst ballista dead ahead and scored with all three hits, eliminating the crew and the weapon. The Feral Warpwolf ghostly warped as well, placing itself in a counter-charge position to hammer any Menite 'jack that attempted to charge the Woldwarden the next round.

Finally, Baldur popped his feat to make things tougher for the Menites to handle by limiting their charge ranges and ability to launch ranged attacks...

At this point the store was closing, so the game had to end.

Final Thoughts:
This was a fun game, and I wish we could've seen it through to the end, but we didn't have the two hours we likely would've needed. I evidently demoralized Schno, who seemed pretty convinced that he couldn't penetrate the Baldur/Druids shield I had going and therefore wasn't going to win. To be honest, as I originally stated, I don't think that was the case. I may've crippled his AOE-producing capacity, but he was far from helpless, and I've had one too many games swing wildly in the end such that the "loser" suddenly pulled a win out of his hat... so I have no illusions; With the rest of his forces he could've still soundly beaten me, especially given that he still had all his jacks in almost perfect fighting condition and along with all his support units. For some reason, I still have trouble getting at Menite support units, which should make my job a lot easier.
I'd like to try out some more 50-pt games at some point. When we have enough time to finish them.

Battle Reports: eKaya vs. eMorghoul / pKrueger vs. Gorten

Battle Report 1: Kaya the Moonhunter vs. Lord Assassin Morghoul - 15 pts.

Morghoul hissed in fury as he swiped Mercy at the Argus, forcing the two-headed canine to abandon its twin bites to his leg and torso. He ignored his bleeding wounds and danced back from the quivering, eviscerated corpse of the Feral Warpwolf he had slain only moments earlier, then turned at the sound of a raw howl in time to see massive white wolf lope towards him, coming in low. A split-second later the wolf's howl was answered by a massive roar as the Bronzeback Titan charged forward with the mass of a steam-powered train to intercept the wolf in a bone-shattered blow that threw the beast to the ground, its howl turning to a high yelp of agony as bones broke under the impact. Morghoul flicked back Mercy in anticipation of delivering the finishing stroke when a female voice broke from behind him.
"NO ONE harms my companion!" The skorne assassin's head twisted in surprise - the young human female had not been there moments before, she had simply materialized. Caught off-guard, Morghoul attempted to parry, but the young woman's spear flashed quicker than expected to stab deep into his gut...

The Lists:

Kaya the Moonhunter Laris Feral Warpwolf Argus Tharn Bloodtrackers

Lord Assassin Morghoul Bronzeback Titan Cyclops Savage Cataphract Arcuarii

Initial Thoughts:
First time playing against Skorne. I had anticipated a much tougher victory, but some good tactics, backed up by some lucky rolls, swung things in my favor to give me the victory.  I also think my opponent was a tad overconfident (this same player was originally to be part of our current D&D group, but he was dropped partially on account of all the other players got sick and tired of him espousing all the other awesome things he had done in previous games...). He was playing with one of the heaviest non-character warbeasts in the game, and one hell of a nasty combat-caster, and he was counting on both to win him the game.  I had heard of how nasty Morghoul could be, but I had yet to experience it for myself - until he charged my undamaged Feral and proceeded to turn it into little bloody ribbons.  I also had some serious doubts about the Bloodtrackers' ability to deal with the Arcuarii, but they did surprisingly well. That said, my victory almost didn't make it, as the Bronzeback that almost ended my chances before I got there - countercharge placed Laris at exactly 1 remaining life box... but that was just enough to let me get Kaya into place.

Breakdown:
Kaya - Did decently well. Arced Muzzle through Laris to prevent the Bronzeback from moving up to engage my forces or use countercharge initially against the Feral. At game's end she used Laris' animus to teleport into flanking position behind Morghoul for the winning assassination run.

Laris - Mostly used as a "Bark node." Nearly died when setting up the assassination run due to being countercharged by the Bronzeback down to 1 hit point.

Feral Warpwolf - Ripped the Cyclops Savage to smithereens. Died to Morghoul.

Argus - Used the Doppler bark to paralyze several Arcuarii, but that didn't do much. However, scored a boosted Combo Bite on Morghoul just before Kaya went after him and finished him off.

Tharn Bloodtrackers - Tied up the Arcuarii. I didn't expect them to do well when he surprised me by running his Arcuarii up to engage them before I could use my javelins, since their clawed bucklers aren't too impressive. Instead, some really good rolls saw them take down the heavy infantry and suffer only modest losses in return.

Conclusion:
I definitely did not expect Morghoul to be THAT effective in combat. I now wonder if perhaps I should run Kaya a little more aggressively - having her and Laris flank a target should likely see that target destroyed. I think my opponent had a good idea to run very aggressively - I certainly didn't expect him to be engaging my troops that quickly, and I definitely did not expect to see his warlock charge (and kill!) my heavy. However, I had the right idea of how to initially deal with his Bronzeback... by NOT engaging something that big directly. Muzzle meant that for all its scary presence it couldn't do anything, which led him having to bringing Morghoul up to the front ranks and into range of my other beasts. So... maybe some more aggression from me, and maybe a little less from my opponent. ;)

Battle Report 2: Krueger the Stormwrath vs. Gorten Grundback

Krueger settled to the earth at the edge of the forest as he released the wind's hold keeping him aloft.  To the west, the Wolf Lord and his mount were busy finishing up the noisy gun 'jack while to the east the gorax fell upon the dwarven shield wall in a savage fury, tearing it to pieces and hurtling startled dwarves about in its mindless wrath. At his mental command, the feral warpwolf loped forward from the remains of the other 'jack, now a collection of scrap metal. Krueger scanned the area, looking for the enemy caster. Just as his eyes alighted on the dwarf, the ground suddenly gave a mighty heave, pitching and swelling as boulders and other rocks rolled and jumped along, carrying Krueger into the open. As he climbed back to his feet in surprise, he felt the fire of the first slug rip through his armor and into his side. Before he could transfer the injury, two more gunshots rang out, and Krueger slumped to the ground...

The Lists:

Krueger the Stormwrath Feral Warpwolf Gorax Druids of Orboros Druid Overseer Wolf Lord Morraig

Gorten Grundback Ghordson Basher Grundback Gunner Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corp Hammerfall High Shield Officer & Standard Bearer Thor Steinhammer

Initial Thoughts:
Quick friendly game with Tim, with both of us testing out lists for the Highlander Tournament on Mar. 5th. Mostly a test-bed to see if either of our ideas had any merit. While I did surprisingly well with my list, I ultimately lost due entirely to carelessness on my part. However, after gauging his performance, Tim has decided not to run this list at the tournament.

Breakdown:

Krueger - Did what he does best... fries infantry. His feat took out a fair number of High Shields. Between him, the Druids, and the Gorax, the dwarves' resolve broke and then went running. Krueger's Wind Wall helped shield my models, some. Died to a combination of Gorten's feat (which pulled him into the open) and gunfire (more on that below).

Feral Warpwolf - Took out the Ghordson Basher.

Gorax - Acted as fury battery and a dwarf-muncher. Used his Primal animus to make certain he broke through the High Shields' high armor and sent them running. Poised to go after Gorten next.

Druids of Orboros / Druid Overseer- First screened the advance with their vortexes, then used force bolts to pull the High Shields formation apart and twice drop the Devouring on them.

Wolf Lord Morraig - Came in on the flank at top speed. Killed Thor (who was 'jack marshaling the Gunner) and damaged the Grundback Gunner. Would likely have taken the 'jack out if Krueger hadn't died.

Conclusion:
While I'm impressed with how the list did, and even moreso that I seem to have finally found some reliable ways of peeling apart dwarven formations, I lost due to one careless mistake... I didn't pay attention to my stats. Specifically, I had initially left a point of Fury on Krueger for transfers, then realized my beasts were at full Fury so I wouldn't be able to transfer, anyways. So I ditched the fury.
...Only, I forgot the gorax can hold up to 4 Fury, and he was only at 3. So had I kept the Fury, I could've easily transferred the damage from Gorten's first shot to the gorax and survived the second, then wiped out his caster next turn.
Overall, though, I think the list is strong enough to work for the tournament, so it should be fun.