Playing to the death of the caster, no other objectives (where are these 'steamroller' objectives I see mentioned by the way? Are they online for free? Or do you have to buy them?). As with the last two, any list advice, tactical nous or rules errors you can help me out with, feel free.
It is a step up in terms of models from the last 2 as well, hurrah. Not in terms of Menoth. That is still a terrible amalgamation of different models from different game systems and armies. But all the models for Cygnar are as they should be, and some are even painted! I'll be spoiling the pictures none-the-less, so you can look if you want, but you don't have to. It is also, sadly, me playing against myself again. But once these models are painted...to Ace Comics and Games (my
LGS) I go!
Amon Ad-Raza (impersonated by Stryker)
Choir of Menoth (the dark angel marines cheering everyone on)
Devout (the not-a-lancer)
Dervish (the claw armed termy number 1)
Dervish (the claw armed termy number 2)
Vassal Mechanik (the chapter master)
And their deployment
eHaley Defender (bonded to the good lady)
Black 13th
Min Trenchers
Trencher Grenade Porter
And their deployment
Surveying the battlefield ahead of her, Major Haley's keen eyes picked out the telltale smudge of black smoke on the horizon. She had found her target. Gesturing her Trencher Infantry forwards and into temporary foxholes, she made a quick mental contact with her Defender warjack. Sad to be deployed without her favoured Lancer Thorn, but knowing that the repairs it is undergoing couldn't wait, she was glad that this Defender had been available to march to war. Summoning her powers, she slowed the flow of time around her troops, providing them with some defence from ranged attacks.
In the distance she saw several white and red light warjacks sprinting towards her force, covering the distance quickly.
Cygnar win first go
8 to haley
cast deceleration
everyone advances, trenchers dig in
1 to each jack, cast mobility, and runs amon
warjacks run
choir sings a song of passage to protect the dervish infront of the mechanik
It was time to unleash the fury of Cygnar. She harnessed the powers within herself to increase the accuracy of the Black 13th advancing on her right. With a gesture she sped up her bonded Defender, and it crashed 2 rounds into the Devout light warjack shielding the enemy warcaster. The Black 13th, silent and deadly, unleashed a barrage of rounds into the Dervish class light warjack, blowing out its cortex and shattering its left arm and motor system. The Trenchers emerged from their foxholes at a shouted order from their sergeant, before pouring a powerful volley of fire into the battered Devout.
With a shout, the enemy warcaster emerged from behind the suddenly holey Devout, bolts of fire flying from his fingertips. They flashed to either side of the slender female member of the Black 13th, singeing her dark cloak they flew so close. Invigorated by his attack, the undamaged Dervish flew into the ranks of the Trenchers, its scything blows singing around the desperately dodging form of a young Trencher. Its last swing crushes the young private, and the light warjack danced away from their desperate return strikes. While this attack was going on, the enemy mechanik rushed forwards and beat the Devout's shield back into shape so it could defend its charge again.
3 to defender, rest on haley
cast temporal acceleration on defender and deadeye on B13, holds still
Defender shoots at devout, hits, boosts damage, 7 on 3 dice...woo. 4 damage on 1. Shoots again, boosts to hit, just hits, 6 damage to 4.
Trenchers advance and they all (including the grenade porter)
CRA into the devout. hits, 10+7+11 on damage, so 28, 10 damage to 2. That is the movement and the shield done in by the defender and trenchers together
B13 advance a bit, lynch hits the dervish on the right (the hymn'd one), brutal damage, 14+10 is 24, 8 damage to 4. Watts hits, brutal damage, 23, 7 damage to 1. Ryan shoots both her pistols, first one does 2 damage to 3, and 7 damage to 2. It has 2 hit boxes left on the bottom right...lucky thing. But it is basically knocked out.
Amon has to reassess his tactics.
feats, moves, casts mobility and then casts convection twice. first one at ryan, 2 to hit. OK. next one at ryan. 3 to hit. Atleast his jacks get some focus from all the stuff he spent. But the crippled dervish can't...correct?
Choir sing battle to the dervish
Other dervish (untouched) charges the trenchers, buys an attack and rolls a 2 to hit. buys another, rolls a 3 to hit, buys another, rolls a 5 to hit. Flattens one trencher and then sidesteps to get infront of the devout to help guard amon. That'll learn me for trying to roll average with dice (
MAT 6 v
DEF 13), I was hoping for a kill, a sidestep, a kill, then in contact with the B13 or something like that...
Mechanik repaired 4 points of damage from the devout from 1 and fixed the shield
Knowing that the crux of the battle rested on this moment, Victoria reached inside herself to exercise her power over time. As she did so, the Trenchers combined their fire to damage the Dervish who had just disengaged. The Defender added its fire to this assault and, directed by Major Haley's razor keen mind, destroyed the threat. Still smoking from the near misses, Ryan engaged the Devout with her blazing pistols, punching a hole in the machine's chest. Watts and Lynch capitalizing on this tiny hole to destroy the cortex of the machine with precision shots.
Suddenly, blasts of fire knocked both Watts and Ryan to the ground, unconscious and badly injured. Fire burned in Haley's heart at the damage done to her soldiers. She saw the mechanik frantically repairing the heart of the Devout, and she grimaced as she felt its cortex come back alive. The Devout and Dervish move into the Trenchers, almost as if they are mired in mud, unable to strike their arms moving in slow motion. From behind the enemy warcaster a wave of zealots emerged, interposing themselves between her forces and her target.
Haley allocates focus the same as last time
advances, feats, holds
Trenchers shuffle,
CRA into the untouched Dervish. Roll a 4 to hit, good thing I
CRA'd. 25 means 9 damage to 2.
Defender moves up, risks not boosting, rolls a 7 to hit (hurrah) and boosts damage, 11 damage to 1. Shoots again, destroys the dervish with its boosted damage.
B13 arc up on the Devout, Ryan (the lucky gal that she is) shoots first, hits, brutal damage, doesn't get through the ARM20 in place. Second shot hits, 1 damage to 3. Watts shoots, 2 damage to 3. Lynch hits, 2 damage to 5. Crippling the Cortex. Go black 13, 5 damage in a whole turn but so worth it.
Amon allocates nothing
Casts convection twice, killing both ryan and watts. Lynch passes his command check. Holds onto 2 focus
The mechanik repairs 1 box on the devout, bringing its cortex back online.
Devout advances into the trenchers
Dervish advances into the trenchers
Choir sings nothing, instead running to interpose themselves between the enemy and Amon
Deciding it was time to change her tactics, Major Haley reached out and wrested control of the Devout from the enemy warcaster. Jerkily, as if it didn't know its own limbs, the light warjack spun around in a tight circle and crushed one of the zealots with its weapon. The Trenchers fell back from the Dervish, losing another one of their number to its flashing blade. They opened up on the zealots with their rifles, gunning three of them down in a hail of bullets. Lynch cracked a shot off at the Dervish one handed, the bullet zipping beside its head as he desperately bandaged the terrible burns on Ryan's chest. From in front of her, the Defender's Heavy Barrel roared, the round punching through the back armour of the Devout before exiting in a shower of parts.
Haley ignored the mechanik's desperate attempts to fix the Dervish, and the zealots' ineffectual assault on the Defender, occupied by the gathering of magical power she felt. Before the cry of warning could escape her lips, arcs of fire lashed out from the enemy warcaster, knocking Lynch to the ground and incinerating two of the Trenchers where they stood. An image of these men in their last moments was seared onto her memory, and rage boiled over in her heart.
Haley gives 2 focus to the defender, and casts temporal acceleration on it as well as dominate on the devout. Hits it, it turns around, advances and kills one of the choir.
Trenchers pull back from the dervish, losing 1 to a sword. Shoot at the choir. First guy hits, kills. Second guy misses, third guy misses, 4th guy hits and kills, leader hits and kills. They pass command.
Lynch shoots at the dervish, misses with a 1,1, must have something to do with his mates being burned before him...
Defender shoots, hits the Devout, boosts damage, trashes it (6,6,4 on its back arc so no shield). Now I realise (as I write this up) that I forgot to take a second shot. Ah well.
Amon allocates no focus
Mechanik moves into contact with the dervish, fails command check. Well there goes that last shot at hurting haley (attack, sidestep, attack, sidestep, attack her and pray)
Amon burns Lynch and 2 trenchers because he is grumpy at a probably loss.
Choir assaults the defender to try and buy amon some time. Fail to do any damage.
With a shout of anger, she tore the cortex of the surviving Dervish from the enemy's control, commanding it to kill the enemy mechanik. With a scream of terror, the man was sliced in half by the warjack he had been trying to repair mere moments before. The Trenchers, angered by the horrifying deaths of their comrades, leapt at the zealots and dragged them down before skewering them with their bayonets. When it was clear of assailants, the Defender's cannon roared twice, the first shot reducing the Dervish to scrap and the second glancing the shoulder of the enemy warcaster.
Haley was forced to watch as, recovering from the glancing blow, the enemy reached out and murdered the last of her Trencher Infantry, the sergeant the last to fall, defiance upon his lips but terror in his eyes at the death he could see coming.
Haley gives 2 to the defender
Casts Temporal Acceleration on it, and Dominates the dervish to turn around and squish the mechanik.
Trencher move up to the choir, kill them both off.
Defender shoots and trashes the dervish. Boosts to hit and hits Amon, does 3 damage
Amon moves behind a bit of cover and burns the last 3 trenchers to cinders.
The deaths of her troops heavy on her heart, she directed her Defender to finish the enemy. Two shots later and the enemy was lying in a pool of blood, torn to pieces by the firepower of the Heavy Barrel.
haley casts temporal acceleration on the defender, as well as deadeye, and gives it 3 focus, after moving to the side
Defender moves, shoots, hits (no boosting), boosts for damage for a 4. 5 damage to Amon. Shoots again, boosting to hit, 10 damage, game over.
end game (scarabs are wrecks...I'm really very sorry for the proxies. I am.)
Report Card;
eHaley; B. She did everything I needed, the one thing I didn't like was feeling I needed to hide her from the enemy constantly, she doesn't seem very hardy, it limited my use of the Defender. Also, no upkeep spells...I wish deceleration was upkeep so very, very much.
Defender; B. I worry what will happen when I start trying to run more jacks at higher points levels, I think Arlan, a squire and a Journeyman will be a must. If this jack can't boost to hit, or can't have Deadeye on him, his
RAT is too low for me to feel comfortable.
Black 13th; A. Yes, they all died. But they nearly destroyed a Dervish and, if the shield hadn't have been repaired, would have had a Devout on their list as well. They are just so...multi-task-y. And the fact they died isn't a fault of theirs, it is a fault of mine. I should have put them in some kind of cover to benefit from their special rules.
Trencher Infantry; A. They were a great meatshield for my more expensive and important units, and their
CRA was really useful. All around I love these guys. I'm thinking I'd like to try out a large unit of these in larger battles.
Grenade Porter; C. If that. It gets a C because it can take part in a
CRA, but honestly I think this is 1 point that can be better spent elsewhere.
Menoth;
Should have brought some ranged attack. Last batrep against Menoth someone mentioned how well they went using a horde of Dervishes, so I thought I'd try a variant of that. Some luckier rolls could have seen it work just fine (if the sidestepping had worked with the Dervish at the end for example). I'd love feedback on how to improve the list so that next time it works even better.
Khador 75p
Menoth 35p
Circle 25p
Legion 25p 
