Round Four: Vs Mark Howard
Scenario: Recon
Leading up to the game, I was certain he would drop Orion into me. I debated back and forth about whether to play dark host or the satyxis. In the end I choose dark host because I was concerned the kraken would get shot off the table after the coven's feat was done and my satyxis wouldn't be able to get the job done, especially against the conflux. The one factor I did not consider was feedback. For some reason, I was under the impression that feedback required a working cortex in order to damage the battlegroup controller. After the game, I looked it up and it turns out that is not the case. I still think I chose the correct list, but knowing that feedback is an option against Convergence is good knowledge to have.
(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]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [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]
(Orion 1) Eminent Configurator Orion [+28] - Destruction Initiative - Corollary [6]
- Mitigator [7]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Prime Conflux [37]
Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex [2]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Reflex Servitors [0(4)]
Reflex Servitors [0(4)]
I arrived at Mark's house (yes, I was playing the guy running the scrum at his own house ... what could possibly go wrong?) and he had three tables setup with terrain. When asked which table I wanted to play on, I wasn't really paying attention or thinking about the game and I said it didn't matter. In a display of gentlemanly gamesmanship, he chose the table with house in middle so I wouldn't get straight up assassinated on his feat turn. He won the roll and choose go first. See below for terrain and also a teasing glimpse of feet. This picture was taken from my side of the table.
Deployment: The prime conflux was deployed centrally with two modulators to the right and 3 to the left. The mitigator was on the far left flank and the corollary and Orion were deployed behind the left modulators. Three reflex servitors were placed on either flank with two left in the middle. Three elimination servitors to the right, three in the middle, three on the left. The optifex was placed in the back near Orion.
The wraith engine deployed a little to the right of center with bane riders on the right flank. Denny was to the left of the wraith engine, knights were to the left of Denny, Tartarus to the left of the knights, and the warriors to left of Tartarus on the far left flank. Arc nodes were positioned behind the front lines to either side of Denny with Orin and the skarlock. The soul trapper was on the far right.
Top 1: Everything moved forward. The conflux started drifting lazily to the left as it moved up and each of the modulators trampled and then repositioned forward. The servitors moved forward, but stayed in the general lane where they were deployed (right / left / center). Orion and the optifex moved up behind the lines and remained a little to the left of the conflux.
Bottom 1: In a shocking turn of events, the melee based Cryx army ran forward on its first turn. These are the kinds of surprising tactics you need to combat the scrum overlord on his home turf. Denny camped all 7 and ran directly behind the house. I wanted to be able to threaten a shadow step out from the house followed by a 13" charging threat so keep Orion honest. The wraith engine moved up behind Denny and a little to the right with the riders around the back edge of the right zone. The knights run forward and group up into pods of three and four. The warriors run forward, but stay behind the knights and a little to their left. The stalkers run directly forward and engage the three modulators on the left.
Top 2: This turn started with Mark burning several minutes on his clock as he debated trying a magic bullet assassination. Ultimately, he decided against it because he would have gotten a total of three shots into Denny and with her being able to spend focus to reduce damage on all those shots the math was not in his favor. Instead, plan B was the only plan he has into this army: shoot banes. He failed to damage the bane riders with his two modulators on the right side. Orion used his gun to shoot his own modulator in the back to push the stalkers away. Note: since the end of the game we have realized it doesn't work this way. He would have needed to shoot the stalkers instead. Both stalkers die to a combination of direct shots and damage from the line guns as knights were picked off. Several knights die (three or four). The conflux starts moving a little to the left of the objective and kills a knight or two. I apologize for not having exact numbers of infantry that were killed here. Pictures would have helped. Hopefully I can remember this for next round.
Bottom 2: My plan actually seems to be working. I spend several minutes measuring things out and I decide that between hellmouth, shadow step and an incorporeal charge, I can get to Orion with Denny. She would then pitch him backwards toward the loving embrace of my banes. All of this hinges on landing an unboosted hellmouth on one of the servitors in front of Orion. I run an arc node into range and activate Denny. She fires off a hellmouth and lands the hit. The hellmouth pulled Orion forward, as intended, and pulled in a modulator and a couple servitors. All the servitors die and no damage goes on the modulator. However, the movement of the modulator from hellmouth has positioned a large base on the spot where Denny was intended to charge to. After a couple more minutes of measuring, I decide that the assassination run needs to be aborted. My plan B involved keeping Denny behind the house to continue threatening this assassination, while starting to put pressure on scenario.
The bane riders charge the right modulators, but due to the house and angles only two actually get charges. One rider manages to get an impact attack onto a modulator and does 1 damage. The rider takes four damage from the modulator's plasma nimbus and a reflex servitor counter charges after the charge ends. Luckily, the attack was missed and it ends up doing no damage. Each rider puts a little damage on the two modulators that got charged. One rider ends up engaged with each right modulator, while the other three riders spread out near the back of the zone. The wraith engine hangs out and continues to grant its unhallowed buff to Denny, the riders and a few knights. The knights run forward, hoping to actually finish closing distance before they all die. The warriors position behind the knights. The soul trapper runs to my flag. I score one and go up 1-0.
Top 3: Between his modulators, elimination servitors and the conflux, all but two of the bane knights are shot down. One or two warriors were also killed. During the conflux's activation, it moved more toward the left zone. In the right zone, one modulator killed a bane rider, while the other fails to kill any. A servitor runs to contest my flag. Mark scores on his flag and ties the score at 1-1.
Bottom 3: The bane riders get vengeance but fail to kill the servitor contesting my flag. Orin midwinter moves forward and shoots a chain lightning into the back of a bane rider. A single arc is rolled and the servitor in the zone is destroyed. The rider takes no damage. The bane riders charge and do some good damage to the modulators on the right. They put damage on them both, but leave them both alive. One is in the middle of the zone, while the other was outside. They reposition so the modulator is in a triangle in the middle of three of them, while the last one moved to the upper left corner of the zone. The wraith engine moves in and finishes that modulator off, clearing the zone. The bane warriors get the press forward order. One warrior charges the mitigator, while another charges an elimination servitor. The officer runs into the fire cloud, with the banner positioning behind it. Being in the cloud gave my officer stealth from prowl and I felt my chances of the officer surviving being on fire was better than if he stood out in the open. A reflex servitor counter charges the bane warrior on the mitigator, but fails the attack roll and nothing dies. The soul trapper continues to stand on my flag. The last two bane knights in the unit charge his objective together and kill it. I score three for the objective, right flag and right zone going up 4-1.
Top 4: Orion moves toward the left zone, pops feat and shoots his modulator in the back to push away my bane warriors. He then casts mage sight, and positions it to remove stealth from Tartarus and the bane warrior officer. The conflux moves into the left zone and guns down a Tartarus, but fails to hit the bane warrior officer. The conflux pops out its servitor, which runs to contest both my flag and my zone. The modulators on the left kill the rest of the bane warriors in the zone, but the officer, standard and one more remain alive outside. The soul trapper and Orin midwinter are both killed, but I am having trouble remembering what did the work. Probably the remaining modulator on the right. Mark scores on the left flag and the left zone, making the score 4-3.
Bottom 4: The bane riders use vengeance to position themselves for charges and take a couple swings at the remaining modulator. The wraith engine runs into the left zone to apply dark shroud to the conflux. An arc node runs into position and Denny arcs a curse of shadows onto the conflux. She then moves back to be in position to score both the flag and the zone, after killing the servitor. The bane riders charge the conflux. Two of them are able to get charge lanes, while the other two charge and kill the remaining modulator on the right. The riders manage to get some decent damage on the conflux. The bane warriors get the press forward order. The officer and one other charge the mitigator and the standard bearer just runs into the zone. The bane warrior kills the mitigator and the officer is left without a target, but is close enough to be contesting the flag. I score the right flag and zone, going up 6-3.
Top 5: Orion activated first and used his gun to clear out a bane warrior and used magic bullet to kill another. A modulator charged the wraith engine, only to realize that the wraith engine was still incorporeal and he did not cast spell piercer. The conflux killed the two bane riders that had charged it last turn. It popped out another servitor that ran to contest my zone and flag again. Another modulator started running towards the right zone, along with the optifex. The last modulator shoots the arc node, doing damage but failing to kill it. Mark scores his flag, to bring the score to 6-4.
Bottom 5: The wraith engine activated and attacked the conflux, putting some solid damage on it. The last two bane riders charged the conflux and destroyed it, then repositioned to contest the zone and flag on the left. Denny killed the servitor and stayed on the flag. I score the right flag and zone, going up 8-4.
Top 6: Orion clears the left flag. The wraith engine is killed by a modulator. The other modulator on the left killed some banes, but the arc node remained. The modulator running to the right gets into the corner of the zone. We each score on the flags, making the score 9-5.
Bottom 6: I do some ineffective flailing at some random models that ends up not killing any of them. Then Denny sits on the flag and I run something to contest the other flag. I score the right flag and win 10-5.
Even though I managed to win on scenario, it was a tough fought battle. Killing the prime conflux was really what allowed me to push to a scenario win, as without that popping out servitors every turn, he was unable to get anything to contest my flag. This Orion list is scary, as it seems to have an answer for everything. His feat makes sure infantry will be hit, while jacks get crushed by damage. The biggest issue it has is time. Convergence is a complicated army to run, with all the needed positioning and order of activations required to make induction work. Orion adds another layer of complexity on top of that and it ends up draining clock faster than you would think. Mark's turn 5 started with him having about 6 minutes on his clock and he ended the game with only 13 seconds. The two things that burned up his time was when he debated going for the assassination on the top of 2 and then all his line gun shots on turns 2 and 3. He was spending a lot of time trying to line up the perfect shot to get as many banes as possible and most of the time he only ended up killing one anyway. If he had just taken 2 shots per turn with his modulators and focused on the front line of banes, the effect would have been the same and he would have had more time.
The time was crucial, because his rush through his turn on the top of 5 was what caused him to forget the wraith engine had not attacked and he missed his chance to cast spell piercer. If the wraith engine dies there, I don't know that I can kill the conflux, which changes how the rest of the game plays out. At that point, I probably would have had to either hope he clocked himself, or make sure the game lasts long enough for it to end after turn 7. I was far enough ahead on control that I probably could have won that way, but who knows what happens if the conflux gets to turn its attention to the right zone.
My games against Mark are always intense, and this was no exception. My only regret is that I waited so long to write this up that I know some of the details got confused and this was too good of a game to not get it all correct. The key pieces I know are right, like the scoring, but there are a couple places where I am not 100% certain I have the details correct. I look forward to my next game against Mark, as I know he will continue to get better with this list and clock will become less of a factor. Next week, round five against Kat Royer! As always, thanks for reading!
Scenario: Recon
Leading up to the game, I was certain he would drop Orion into me. I debated back and forth about whether to play dark host or the satyxis. In the end I choose dark host because I was concerned the kraken would get shot off the table after the coven's feat was done and my satyxis wouldn't be able to get the job done, especially against the conflux. The one factor I did not consider was feedback. For some reason, I was under the impression that feedback required a working cortex in order to damage the battlegroup controller. After the game, I looked it up and it turns out that is not the case. I still think I chose the correct list, but knowing that feedback is an option against Convergence is good knowledge to have.
(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]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [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]
(Orion 1) Eminent Configurator Orion [+28] - Destruction Initiative - Corollary [6]
- Mitigator [7]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Modulator [10]
- Prime Conflux [37]
Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex [2]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Elimination Servitors [0(3)]
Reflex Servitors [0(4)]
Reflex Servitors [0(4)]
I arrived at Mark's house (yes, I was playing the guy running the scrum at his own house ... what could possibly go wrong?) and he had three tables setup with terrain. When asked which table I wanted to play on, I wasn't really paying attention or thinking about the game and I said it didn't matter. In a display of gentlemanly gamesmanship, he chose the table with house in middle so I wouldn't get straight up assassinated on his feat turn. He won the roll and choose go first. See below for terrain and also a teasing glimpse of feet. This picture was taken from my side of the table.
Deployment: The prime conflux was deployed centrally with two modulators to the right and 3 to the left. The mitigator was on the far left flank and the corollary and Orion were deployed behind the left modulators. Three reflex servitors were placed on either flank with two left in the middle. Three elimination servitors to the right, three in the middle, three on the left. The optifex was placed in the back near Orion.
The wraith engine deployed a little to the right of center with bane riders on the right flank. Denny was to the left of the wraith engine, knights were to the left of Denny, Tartarus to the left of the knights, and the warriors to left of Tartarus on the far left flank. Arc nodes were positioned behind the front lines to either side of Denny with Orin and the skarlock. The soul trapper was on the far right.
Top 1: Everything moved forward. The conflux started drifting lazily to the left as it moved up and each of the modulators trampled and then repositioned forward. The servitors moved forward, but stayed in the general lane where they were deployed (right / left / center). Orion and the optifex moved up behind the lines and remained a little to the left of the conflux.
Bottom 1: In a shocking turn of events, the melee based Cryx army ran forward on its first turn. These are the kinds of surprising tactics you need to combat the scrum overlord on his home turf. Denny camped all 7 and ran directly behind the house. I wanted to be able to threaten a shadow step out from the house followed by a 13" charging threat so keep Orion honest. The wraith engine moved up behind Denny and a little to the right with the riders around the back edge of the right zone. The knights run forward and group up into pods of three and four. The warriors run forward, but stay behind the knights and a little to their left. The stalkers run directly forward and engage the three modulators on the left.
Top 2: This turn started with Mark burning several minutes on his clock as he debated trying a magic bullet assassination. Ultimately, he decided against it because he would have gotten a total of three shots into Denny and with her being able to spend focus to reduce damage on all those shots the math was not in his favor. Instead, plan B was the only plan he has into this army: shoot banes. He failed to damage the bane riders with his two modulators on the right side. Orion used his gun to shoot his own modulator in the back to push the stalkers away. Note: since the end of the game we have realized it doesn't work this way. He would have needed to shoot the stalkers instead. Both stalkers die to a combination of direct shots and damage from the line guns as knights were picked off. Several knights die (three or four). The conflux starts moving a little to the left of the objective and kills a knight or two. I apologize for not having exact numbers of infantry that were killed here. Pictures would have helped. Hopefully I can remember this for next round.
Bottom 2: My plan actually seems to be working. I spend several minutes measuring things out and I decide that between hellmouth, shadow step and an incorporeal charge, I can get to Orion with Denny. She would then pitch him backwards toward the loving embrace of my banes. All of this hinges on landing an unboosted hellmouth on one of the servitors in front of Orion. I run an arc node into range and activate Denny. She fires off a hellmouth and lands the hit. The hellmouth pulled Orion forward, as intended, and pulled in a modulator and a couple servitors. All the servitors die and no damage goes on the modulator. However, the movement of the modulator from hellmouth has positioned a large base on the spot where Denny was intended to charge to. After a couple more minutes of measuring, I decide that the assassination run needs to be aborted. My plan B involved keeping Denny behind the house to continue threatening this assassination, while starting to put pressure on scenario.
The bane riders charge the right modulators, but due to the house and angles only two actually get charges. One rider manages to get an impact attack onto a modulator and does 1 damage. The rider takes four damage from the modulator's plasma nimbus and a reflex servitor counter charges after the charge ends. Luckily, the attack was missed and it ends up doing no damage. Each rider puts a little damage on the two modulators that got charged. One rider ends up engaged with each right modulator, while the other three riders spread out near the back of the zone. The wraith engine hangs out and continues to grant its unhallowed buff to Denny, the riders and a few knights. The knights run forward, hoping to actually finish closing distance before they all die. The warriors position behind the knights. The soul trapper runs to my flag. I score one and go up 1-0.
Top 3: Between his modulators, elimination servitors and the conflux, all but two of the bane knights are shot down. One or two warriors were also killed. During the conflux's activation, it moved more toward the left zone. In the right zone, one modulator killed a bane rider, while the other fails to kill any. A servitor runs to contest my flag. Mark scores on his flag and ties the score at 1-1.
Bottom 3: The bane riders get vengeance but fail to kill the servitor contesting my flag. Orin midwinter moves forward and shoots a chain lightning into the back of a bane rider. A single arc is rolled and the servitor in the zone is destroyed. The rider takes no damage. The bane riders charge and do some good damage to the modulators on the right. They put damage on them both, but leave them both alive. One is in the middle of the zone, while the other was outside. They reposition so the modulator is in a triangle in the middle of three of them, while the last one moved to the upper left corner of the zone. The wraith engine moves in and finishes that modulator off, clearing the zone. The bane warriors get the press forward order. One warrior charges the mitigator, while another charges an elimination servitor. The officer runs into the fire cloud, with the banner positioning behind it. Being in the cloud gave my officer stealth from prowl and I felt my chances of the officer surviving being on fire was better than if he stood out in the open. A reflex servitor counter charges the bane warrior on the mitigator, but fails the attack roll and nothing dies. The soul trapper continues to stand on my flag. The last two bane knights in the unit charge his objective together and kill it. I score three for the objective, right flag and right zone going up 4-1.
Top 4: Orion moves toward the left zone, pops feat and shoots his modulator in the back to push away my bane warriors. He then casts mage sight, and positions it to remove stealth from Tartarus and the bane warrior officer. The conflux moves into the left zone and guns down a Tartarus, but fails to hit the bane warrior officer. The conflux pops out its servitor, which runs to contest both my flag and my zone. The modulators on the left kill the rest of the bane warriors in the zone, but the officer, standard and one more remain alive outside. The soul trapper and Orin midwinter are both killed, but I am having trouble remembering what did the work. Probably the remaining modulator on the right. Mark scores on the left flag and the left zone, making the score 4-3.
Bottom 4: The bane riders use vengeance to position themselves for charges and take a couple swings at the remaining modulator. The wraith engine runs into the left zone to apply dark shroud to the conflux. An arc node runs into position and Denny arcs a curse of shadows onto the conflux. She then moves back to be in position to score both the flag and the zone, after killing the servitor. The bane riders charge the conflux. Two of them are able to get charge lanes, while the other two charge and kill the remaining modulator on the right. The riders manage to get some decent damage on the conflux. The bane warriors get the press forward order. The officer and one other charge the mitigator and the standard bearer just runs into the zone. The bane warrior kills the mitigator and the officer is left without a target, but is close enough to be contesting the flag. I score the right flag and zone, going up 6-3.
Top 5: Orion activated first and used his gun to clear out a bane warrior and used magic bullet to kill another. A modulator charged the wraith engine, only to realize that the wraith engine was still incorporeal and he did not cast spell piercer. The conflux killed the two bane riders that had charged it last turn. It popped out another servitor that ran to contest my zone and flag again. Another modulator started running towards the right zone, along with the optifex. The last modulator shoots the arc node, doing damage but failing to kill it. Mark scores his flag, to bring the score to 6-4.
Bottom 5: The wraith engine activated and attacked the conflux, putting some solid damage on it. The last two bane riders charged the conflux and destroyed it, then repositioned to contest the zone and flag on the left. Denny killed the servitor and stayed on the flag. I score the right flag and zone, going up 8-4.
Top 6: Orion clears the left flag. The wraith engine is killed by a modulator. The other modulator on the left killed some banes, but the arc node remained. The modulator running to the right gets into the corner of the zone. We each score on the flags, making the score 9-5.
Bottom 6: I do some ineffective flailing at some random models that ends up not killing any of them. Then Denny sits on the flag and I run something to contest the other flag. I score the right flag and win 10-5.
Even though I managed to win on scenario, it was a tough fought battle. Killing the prime conflux was really what allowed me to push to a scenario win, as without that popping out servitors every turn, he was unable to get anything to contest my flag. This Orion list is scary, as it seems to have an answer for everything. His feat makes sure infantry will be hit, while jacks get crushed by damage. The biggest issue it has is time. Convergence is a complicated army to run, with all the needed positioning and order of activations required to make induction work. Orion adds another layer of complexity on top of that and it ends up draining clock faster than you would think. Mark's turn 5 started with him having about 6 minutes on his clock and he ended the game with only 13 seconds. The two things that burned up his time was when he debated going for the assassination on the top of 2 and then all his line gun shots on turns 2 and 3. He was spending a lot of time trying to line up the perfect shot to get as many banes as possible and most of the time he only ended up killing one anyway. If he had just taken 2 shots per turn with his modulators and focused on the front line of banes, the effect would have been the same and he would have had more time.
The time was crucial, because his rush through his turn on the top of 5 was what caused him to forget the wraith engine had not attacked and he missed his chance to cast spell piercer. If the wraith engine dies there, I don't know that I can kill the conflux, which changes how the rest of the game plays out. At that point, I probably would have had to either hope he clocked himself, or make sure the game lasts long enough for it to end after turn 7. I was far enough ahead on control that I probably could have won that way, but who knows what happens if the conflux gets to turn its attention to the right zone.
My games against Mark are always intense, and this was no exception. My only regret is that I waited so long to write this up that I know some of the details got confused and this was too good of a game to not get it all correct. The key pieces I know are right, like the scoring, but there are a couple places where I am not 100% certain I have the details correct. I look forward to my next game against Mark, as I know he will continue to get better with this list and clock will become less of a factor. Next week, round five against Kat Royer! As always, thanks for reading!
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