Seeing Red - Another Khador Log

[xbanditsx]

The Skorne have been the biggest problem for me. I've had decent success against Khador, Mercs, Legion, and Circle but the Skorne player always seems to get me.

For my Christmas present to myself I bought a few models. A Spriggan, a second Kodiak, pIrusk (old scuplt), pButcher (old sculpt), Zerkova, a Drakhun, and Orin Midwinter. I've been toying with the following Butcher list:

pButcher
Kodiak
Kodiak
Spriggan
5 Demo Corps
Manhunter
Kell
Orin

Obviously I'm going to be looking to get some good killing with the three 'jacks + Full Throttle + Butcher's feat. The Demo Corps are in there to give me some more solid beatsticks and to help screen Butcher. Kell and Orin both have magic or magic weapons and should help clear out infantry and pesky incorporeal things. Orin also has some anti-magic going on to be annoying. The Manhunter is just fun.

Thoughts on this list?

[xbanditsx]

I got in some small point games over the holidays with my old room mate. He had heard my talking about the game and went out and bought Siege, a Defender, and the Thunderhead. I was playing with Sorscha, a Kodiak, a Destroyer, and Widowmakers.


The Reds!


The Blues!

The first game I got squished by a Lightning Coil shot on Siege's feat turn. I wasn't very familiar with Siege or the Thunderhead so he caught me out. I won the next three by pulling off a Windrush + feat + charge with Sorscha. I would have done it a fourth time but I rolled poorly for my damage and left Siege with two health boxes. He and the Thunderhead killed Sorscha next turn.

I'm hoping that my models arrive in the mail this week so I can test out my Butcher list on Saturday.

Also, I took some new photos of my models this past weekend when I was snowed in. You can find them here (Xbanditsx WIP projects).

[Siegebringer]

awesome stuff, I love reading your log
nice pics to

[xbanditsx]

awesome stuff, I love reading your log
nice pics to

Thanks! I've got another photo for today!

I played in a 2v2 game this weekend. I was teamed up with a Merc player using Durgen, several Gunners, Highshields, Forge Guard, Long Gunners, Steelheads, Alexia, and some other stuff. I was using my normal 35 point Sorscha list, which was fully painted (hooray!).

We were matched up against a Legion player using Thagrosh and a ton of infantry and a Circle player using Kromac, 2 Warpwolves, a Gorax, Tharn Ravagers + UA, Whitemane, and Lord of the Feast.

For the most part it was me vs. the Circle and the Mercs vs. Legion. The Lord of the Feast went to the other side to play with the Steelheads and I got some assistance from the Long Gunners.

I was pretty concerned about the Circle list. His Ravagers were faster than my Man-O-War and his Warpwolves were faster than my 'jacks and I didn't think I could hit effectively. His Warpwolves chewed through my Demo Corps and the Ravagers took out my Widowmakers and Greylords. I made some poor movement choices and stranded my 'jacks on the right flank and out of the fight early. Eventually I was able to kill the Gorax and both Warpwolves but was getting overwhelmed by the Tharn, Whitemane, and Kromac because all I had left were the two 'jacks, Kell, and Sorscha.

In the end I moved my Kodiak out of combat with Kromac, who killed it with a free strike, to open up a charge lane for Sorscha. I got a lucky critical freeze and some good damage rolls that killed Kromac, but overall my team lost the game.



Here's a photo of the Circle crashing into my lines. The Widowmakers on the left held out for a time but were mostly useless, and the Warpwolves tore up the center. My 'jacks are off to the right side of the photo, out of the battle for another turn.

[xbanditsx]

I got a game in today with my Butcher list against an eHaley list. The guy I played hasn't played any MkII yet but the store regulars were in agreement that he was a very talented MkI player and he took me apart. His army was very well painted but I wasn't able to get any pictures.

pButcher
+Spriggan
+Kodiak
+Kodiak
Great Bears
Widowmakers
Kell Bailoch
Orin Midwinter
Manhunter

eHaley
+Squire
+Lancer
+Defender
+Ironclad
Gun Mages + UA
6 Trenchers
Gun Mage Captain Adept

He had first turn and moved stuff forward with the Trenchers up front popping smoke and Haley casting Deceleration.

I ran my three 'jacks up with Butcher behind them. I put Fury on one of the Kodiaks and Iron Flesh on the Great Bears, who came up behind the 'jacks. The Widowmakers and Kell killed the GMCA and 4 Trenchers, causing the Trenchers to run. My Manhunter run way down my right flank, hoping to come into the side of the Cygnar.

He advanced Haley and with the extra 2" control from the Squire, caught my entire army minus the Widowmakers and the Manhunter in her feat. The Gun Mages knocked down all three of my 'jacks and the Defender pinged the Butcher for a few damage. The Gun Mages also pasted Orin. His Lancer and Ironclad moved a bit onto my left flank.

My turn was a big mess. I gave 3 focus to the Spriggan and upkept Fury and Iron Flesh. The feat schenanigans meant that the Butcher, his 'jacks, and the Great Bears were all stuck doing nothing. I did manage to catch one Gun Mage with the Spriggan's grenades and another two with the Widowmakers.

His turn three was the end for me. He cast Telekinesis a few times to get his Ironclad into charge range of Butcher, charged him in, and hammered the Butcher into the ground.

I should have seen what the Ironclad was planning on my flank but being under Haley's feat really stalled anything I could have done. I thought I was in pretty good shape even after my lost turn because I had destroyed his infantry, hadn't lost anything but Orin, and was in good position to charge + Butcher's feat. Oh well. Hopefully I'll get in another game with him next weekend.

[xbanditsx]

I had two more games with my Butcher list this past weekend resulted in two more defeats, but I'm getting closer to making it work. My list was:

Butcher of Khardov
+Kodiak
+Kodiak
+Spriggan
Widowmakers
Great Bears
Kell Bailoch
Orin Midwinter
Manhunter

My first game was against the same Cygnar player from last week. He was running a similar list:

Epic Haley
+Squire
+Lancer
+Defender
+Ironclad
6 Trenchers
Stormblades + UA
Gun Mage Captain Adept

Deployment was similar this game. Trenchers up front, Stormblades on my right hand side, 'jacks and Haley behind the Trenchers. I put my shooters and Manhunter on the right, the 'jacks center with Butcher, Orin, and the Great Bears just behind them.

He moved the Trenchers and GMCA up and took out Kell and two Widowmakers. Everything else walked forward and Haley put Deceleration on the Trenchers.

My three 'jacks ran forward with Butcher and the Great Bears behind. Butcher put Fury on the Spriggan and Iron Flesh on the Bears. Orin zapped two Trenchers and the Widowmakers shot two more while the Manhunter ran down the right flank.

Haley moves up and feats, getting everyone but my Manhunter and two remaining Widowmakers. She also casts Telekinesis twice, turning the Spriggan around and moving the Ironclad forward. Something tags one of the Great Bears and the Defender deals six or so points of damage to Butcher. The Ironclad slams the Spriggan, hoping to slam it over the Greatbears but he rolled a 1" distance and didn't do much damage.

Under Haley's feat I move the Great Bears to engage the Lancer, the Spriggan and one Kodiak to engage the Ironclad, and the other Kodiak forward. One Widowmaker gets the GMCA and the Manhunter moves to threaten the Storm Blades. Orin zaps the last two Trenchers.

Haley casts Telekinesis again, moving the Spriggan and Kodiak away from the Ironclad, who charges Butcher and leaves him with a single health box. The Storm Blades assault the Manhunter who manages to dodge three of the four blasts before being pasted on the fourth.

My first feat turn! Butcher casts Full Throttle and feats. He attacks the Ironclad twice and nearly trashes it on his own before letting the Spriggan finish it off. The Kodiak not near Butcher charges the Defender, hits it quite hard on the initial attacks, and threw it into the Stormblades. The throw wrecked the Defender and managed to kill three Stormblades and the Widowmakers killed two more. The Greatbears rolled horribly, even with four dice on each attack, and couldn't finish the Lancer.

Haley put a fully boosted hand cannon shot into Butcher and ended the game.

This game went a lot better than the first, and had Butcher had a little more life I probably would have won. He was down to his Squire, Haley, a badly damaged and engaged Lancer, and four Stormblades who were way out of position. My Great Bears would have finished the Lancer and all three of my 'jacks were fully operational. As I think about it now I may have been able to protect Butcher by having the unengaged Kodiak move between him and Haley and Vent Steam to create a cloud to block LOS. She may still have won but it's something to think about for next time.

The second game was against Skorne.

pMorghoul
+Titan Cannoneer
+Titan Bronzeback
+Cyclops Savage
10 Praetorian Swordsmen
6 Paingivers (don't know if they were one unit or two units of three)
Immortals
Ancestral Guardian

I deployed the same as I have been. He set up with Morghoul, the Titans, and Immortals in the middle with the Swordsmen, Cyclops, Guardian, and Paingivers on my right.

The 'jacks, Great Bears, and Butcher run up. Orin zaps two Swordsmen and the five snipers kill another six.

The Skorne army moves forward as a group. The last two Swordsmen run forward to engage the Manhunter and Great Bears. The only real action came when the Cannoneer shot and killed Orin.

I try to free the Great Bears by shooting the Swordsman but three shots miss him and hit my Bears instead. The Manhunter kills his Swordsman and one Great Bear takes care of his while the other two charge the Cyclops but don't kill it. The other snipers take care of a few Immortals and the Manhunter kills the Ancestral Guardian. I get a little indecisive with my 'jacks, not wanting them to be charged and not wanting to work on the Bronzeback who had Admonition on him.

The Immortals come in to engage one Kodiak and the Spriggan but don't do much damage. Morghoul pasted the Manhunter and the Cyclops took out a Bear. Morghoul then sprinted away and feated. The Cannoneer put some damage on Butcher and the Bronzeback continued to threaten on my left side with Admonition.

Butcher feated and cast Full Throttle but held back from the melee. One Kodiak and Spriggan wiped out the Immortals and the second Kodiak charged Morghoul but couldn't hit him even with the boosts.

The Bronzeback wrecks the Spriggan and the Cannoneer wrecks the Kodiak near Morghoul. The Cyclops finishes off the Great Bears.

My last Kodiak moved up on the Bronzeback, who ran away due to Admonition. It had to run towards Butcher, who charged and killed it. My Widowmakers ran to engage the Cyclops so it couldn't threaten Butcher.

The Cannoneer charged Butcher and killed him.

I think I was too conservative this game with my 'jacks. The first turn I was very aggressive and took control but then I stopped and he gained the momentum. I may have been able to survive the Cannoneer charge if I had cast Iron Flesh on Butcher (DEF 17 is quite a bit harder to hit than DEF 14) - something to remember for next game.

[Siegebringer]

More great battle reports!

What do you think of the Great Bears? I am considering making an eIrusk list with them but will probably wait for the khodex so I can check out the tier lists.

[xbanditsx]

More great battle reports!

What do you think of the Great Bears? I am considering making an eIrusk list with them but will probably wait for the khodex so I can check out the tier lists.

I love the Great Bears, but my dice don't for some reason. I charged two of them into a Pureblood Warpwolf this weekend needing 6's to hit, and I rolled 4, 5, 5, 6. Another time I got all three into combat with a Lancer and would have wrecked it with average damage rolls but couldn't throw any dice higher than a 3. They're incredible powerful, especially if they can get a charge off on Butcher's feat turn (the unit of three produces three 5d6 and three 4d6 damage rolls).

I played another two games this weekend, both against Circle using my Butcher list.

pButcher
+Kodiak
+Kodiak
+Spriggan
Great Bears
Widowmakers
Kell
Orin
Manhunter

Baldur
+Feral Warpwolf
+Pureblood Warpwolf
+Woldwarden
Druids + UA
Blackclad
Lord of the Feast

The six heavies met in the middle and beat the tar out of each other. I had a slight edge because his infantry couldn't do anything to my 'jacks while the Greatbears were able (even with the terrible rolls mentioned above) to put a solid dent in his Pureblood and tie it up for a turn. I won when a Kodiak got a charge off on Baldur.

pKrueger
+Feral Warpwolf
+Pureblood Warpwolf
+Woldwarden
Druids + UA
Warwolf
Lord of the Feast

This game went a lot worse for me. In his first two turns he killed my Widowmakers, Kell, Orin, and two Greatbears with some fantastic rolling on two Chain Lightning spells and the Pureblood's spray attack while I hadn't even entered charge range. I did my best to delay the inevitable but eventually the Woldwarden caught the Butcher and put him down.

[Phalanx]

Nice play-blog. Its a good read. Subscribe'd.

I see you've fought Cygnar, Khador, Legion, Skorne, and Circle, but have you fought Cryx or Retribution or any of the other faction yet? I'm especially curious about any games against Cryx as I'm going to be starting a Cryx army next month.

[xbanditsx]

I've never played against Retribution, Protectorate, or Trolls. I've only played one game against Cryx and it was the first game I ever played. I don't know much about them really, I plan to wait until the faction book comes out and read it all then.