Strong Gaming

Round 1:  vs Christopher Michael Scenario:  Spread the Net The next Scrum begins with me paired up against Chris, who brings Grymkin to the party.  I spent a large portion of my work day studying up on Grymkin, and specifically his pairing.  Here are the lists we brought: Me: [Deneghra 2] Wraith Witch Deneghra [+28] -Dark Host  - Deathripper [6]  - Deathripper [6]  - Stalker [8]  - Stalker [8]  - Skarlock Thrall [0(4)] Bane Lord Tartarus [0(6)] Darragh Wrathe [9] Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5] Soul Trapper [1] Bane Knights (max) [15] Bane Riders (max) [20] Bane Warriors (min) [10]  - Bane Warrior Officer & Standard [0(5)] Wraith Engine [15] [Skarre 3] Skarre, Admiral of the Black Fleet [+27] - Slaughter Fleet Raiders  - Kraken [36]  - Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)] Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)] General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)] Ragman [4] Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6] Blighted Trollkin Marauders ...

Vs:  John Lopilato ( John's Blog: The Gooma Gamer ) Scenario:  Mirage John is started his gaming blog late last year and that was really the inspiration for me to post my battle reports on a blog of my own.  For a few months now we have been trying to line up a game for the battle of the blogs and we finally found our chance.  John has been a long time trolls player, but recently started playing convergence.  I really didn't know what to expect from him, as he usually doesn't play the established meta lists.  We talked it over a little and he had a list he wanted to try out, while I was playing my Skarre3 / Denny2 pair.  The list he wanted to try out used the foundries for recursion, so I agreed to play Skarre3 as playing Denny2 would mean hellmouth hurts his central game plan pretty badly.  Here are our lists: Me : [Skarre 3] Skarre, Admiral of the Black Fleet [+27] - Slaughter Fleet Raiders  - Kraken [36]  - Satyxis Blood Prie...

Vs:  Mark Howard Scenario:  Recon II Mark and I got in a pickup game.  He is practicing with his new Convergence pairing and I am going back to my main pairing of Denny2 in dark host and Skarre3 in slaughter fleet.  I am still not sure which list I really want to drop into Convergence, especially if I see the Iron Mother list.  I know that Iron Mother is the drop into most Warmachine matchups, but I also know that Skarre3 is one of the few casters in the game that Iron Mother cannot casually backlash to death.  I decided to play my Skarre3 list to see how the matchup would go, especially with the concern that Denny2 could be assassination via backlash if I messed up positioning on any of my jacks.  Here are the lists we brought. Me: [Skarre 3] Skarre, Admiral of the Black Fleet [+27] - Slaughter Fleet Raiders  - Kraken [36]  - Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)] Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)] General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)] Ragman [4] B...

Vs:  Michael Ambyth Scenario:  Standoff I arrived at a local game night with my current two list pairing.  I had my Denny2 dark host list and Skarre3 in slaughter fleet.  I had setup the game with Michael earlier, but didn't know what he was bringing.  He told me he only had one list, so I decided I would pick my list based purely on which faction he was playing.  He had Cryx and lately I had been trying out my Skarre3 list into the Cryx mirror match.  It turned out his list was Lich3, but not slayer spam.  Here are the lists: Me: [Skarre 3] Skarre, Admiral of the Black Fleet [+27] - Slaughter Fleet Raiders  - Kraken [36]  - Satyxis Blood Priestess [0(4)] Axiara Wraithblade [0(6)] General Gerlak Slaughterborn [0(6)] Black Ogrun Ironmongers [6] Blighted Trollkin Marauders (max) [15] Bloodgorgers (max) [15]  - Jussika Bloodtongue [5] Bloodgorgers (max) [15] Scharde Dirge Seers [6] Michael: Asphyxious 3] Asphyxious t...

So, another scrum has come and gone.  My final record in this one was 2-3.  Mike Ireland was the overall winner after winning a Retribution civil war against James Lesko.  Our complete final standings are here:  Final Standings - July 2018 Scrum. This event was the first time I ever put nine slayers on the table.  While I generally enjoy playing that type of list, I don't like how the game almost feels decided before you start playing.  If your opponent hasn't played into it before or if they don't have the tools to handle it, you just run over them.  If they do know what's coming and they have the tools, it can be a rough matchup.  The matchup gets even worse if your opponent is prepared for nine slayers and you don't have experience with the list.  That said, I don't really plan on buying that many slayers, I just wanted to put it on the table and see what it was like. As for my other list, Venethrax continues to frustrate me.  I t...