As you can probably tell, chaos is ensuing at BattleZone Comics as the weeks of the tour are starting to blur together! Actually, this is just because of my own wacky schedule but why take all the blame myself? This weekend, I played Shi in one of the games that I was supposed to play last weekend. All in all, I am really glad that I was able to make this one up as it was a blast and we also used the new mosh pit stone circle that I had made.
Battle of the Stones
Cryx vs. Trollbloods
For this game, I was facing off against Shi in one of my make up games for Week Three. Instead of just playing a 'caster kill scenario, we decided to play a mosh pit game using the expanded stone circle that I had made. Rolling off for set up, I actually won the roll but decided to deploy second so I could get an idea what I was up against.
On Shi's side of the table was Terminus, two Deathrippers, one Stalker, a unit of Revenants, and a unit of mechanithralls with the necrosugeon attachment.
Meanwhile, I decided to field the same Borka list that I did in the last game. Borka with the keg, two axers, one impaler, one unit of champions, one unit of kriel warriors with two extra warriors, and a fell caller.
With the both our sides deployed, Shi quickly set his undead horde in motion advancing toward the stone circle. The Deathrippers were able to make some headway onto the circle while the rest of the army could just move far enough to get into position for the next turn.
I followed suit, advancing my kriel warriors up the steps with the champions following behind them and the beasts flanking each side of my line.
Going into the second turn, Shi moved the mechanithralls around the side of the circle while his revenants moved into the center of the circle and opened fire on my warriors. Most of the shots went wide but one of the two that didn't managed to kill the shaman! Losing his rites was definitely a set back but one that I could work around.
For my turn, I charged my warriors forward and engaged as many targets as I could, which turned out to be not very many. Gotta love those medium bases! Even so, between the warriors and one of my axers I was able to disable one of Shi's Deathrippers and damage the other. Then there was the impaler. I forced him to charge so that I could try to take out the necrosurgeon but this put him out of my control zone. Still, it's only defense 12, there's no way he could miss... unless I roll snake eyes! Argh!!! Needless to say I am already making plans to replace him in future games. Meanwhile, the champions had split up as three moved up behind the warriors and the other two had moved with the fell caller toward the Slayer on the far side of the circle.
Heading into turn three, Shi moved the Slayer up to attack the champions but failed to connect with any of his attacks. The Stalker fared quite a bit better as it ripped apart one of the axers, easily taking him down. The mechanithralls moved to surround the impaler but only one of them managed to do any real damage. The Revenants fared just as poorly as they only managed to kill one of the warriors. Even so, it didn't do anything to stop the steady advance of Terminus into the center of the circle.
For my half of the turn, my warriors were able to take out three of the revenants but none of them could reach the quarter master. The three champions on the stairs moved over to one side to open a charge lane for the axer who failed to complete his charge. Again with the medium bases! Argh!!! Need to get myself some pygs so I don't need to worry about that anymore... On the far side of the circle, the other two champions and the fell caller all moved around the slayer and then let into it with a serious pounding! Borka also managed to get in on the action as he bounced a bomb off the disabled Deathripper and right onto Terminus' head. Blam!!! This was followed by the impaler actually managing to redeem himself, killing not only the necrosurgeon but another mechanithrall as well. Finally that beast was able to do something effective! Even so, it was not the MVP of the turn. That award would have to go to the keg carrier who walked up to the revenant quarter master and pounded him into the ground with the keg.
Turn four and Shi's army was rapidly disappearing but Terminus was still in pretty good shape. The last three mechanithralls again tried to attack the impaler with little luck while the last Revenant was just as effective against the warriors. The Slayer managed to hit the fell caller but barely did any damage. Next Shi had Terminus fly over to face Borka. After some luck on my part (and a couple of damage transfers), Terminus ended his activation by picking Borka up and throwing him at one of the standing stones. This knocked Borka down but other than that it just pissed him off!
My turn rolled around and I have to say I was feeling pretty confident at this point. Most of the Cryx army had been crushed and Terminus was right there begging for a smack down! The two remaining Kriel warriors moved forward and finished off the last of the Revenant crew while the Fell Caller smashed the Slayer into a pile of scrap! With nothing left to fight, I headed the champions over toward Terminus and Borka in the hopes of being able to get some support in the next turn. The impaler also managed to take out one of the remaining mechanithralls but failed to connect when I forced him to try to finish them off. This just left Borka, who was ready to put some hurt onto Terminus. Standing up, he started swinging Trauma and though a couple of hits did connect, Terminus was still standing at the end of the turn while Borka was sitting on a couple of fury so I could transfer damage.
Turn five and it was time for Terminus to bring the pain The hits that I had scored with Trauma last turn meant that he couldn't cast any spells so there was nothing for Shi to do except sit on all his focus. That meant a lot of attacks would be coming at Borka but I still felt confident that I could survive it with a couple of transfers... at least until I realized that I couldn't actually transfer! I had maxed out my remaining beasts the turn before leaving me with nowhere to send that pummeling that Borka received from Terminus.
So close and yet so far... Still, the game was a ton of fun and it was great to get my new terrain piece onto the table! The scenario really made you get right in there and this was actually one of the short games of Warmachine that I have played in a while. And when you have a bunch of pillars to maneuver around, medium bases can be a real bitch.
