Hierarch Severius vs. Mangus the Warlord, 750 point Schism Event at Games Plus
Played four games at the Schism Event at Games Plus. I didn't win any hardware, but I managed to go 3 and 1. I'm not sure if this is any indication on my play ability, as winning players don't face each other in this type of event. Winners hold tables and losers try to break win streaks, while winners have to suffer attrition losses between rounds, but it's still a fun, mostly untimed event.
Drew (weirdsketch) ran the first matches on a timer to make sure that no one got stuck in a single game. I brought my Hierarch list to see how long it would last before I'd switch to something a bit odder.
Armies
| Protectorate of Menoth
| Magnus Agenda
|
|
|
|
What scared me most? The stuff I understood, his Idrians.
Round 1 Opponent
This is Aaron. He came from Rockford to play in the tournament and generally plays in that area.
The Battle
My Idrian Skirmishers declare his Trenchers as their prey, giving them +2 to attack and damage rolls against them. His Idrian Skirmishers declare either my Zealots or my Temple Flameguard as their prey. I don't remember which.
I take the first turn and run forward, chanting Safe Passage on my Blessing of Vengeance and running my infantry elements forward, covering my characters and units. The orange circle is Gorman's smoke template covering the Hierarch.
Severius casts Holy Ward on the Idrian Skirmishers, bringing their Defense up to 16 and making them untargetable by spells. He also casts Courage of Faith to keep his troops solid, and Creator's Wrath on himself.
I Sacrifice 5 models for the Covenant of Menoth: 3 Choir and 2 Temple Flameguard.
My first blunder of the day on the very first round of the game: I forget to activate my Idrian Skirmishers. I tell Aaron that this is a tactic.
Magnus casts the Mobilize spell and runs his warjacks and Orin Midwinter forward. His Idriansrun while his Trenchers drop smoke templates. Croe and the second Idrian unit hold, and also receive an Intercept order, which allows them to charge or run when an enemy ends their movement within 6" of them.
He tries to bring his Idrians further in, but the Holy Zealots use their firebombs and Greater Destiny. They cannot be killed. My Idrians charge his, and Holy Ward keeps them from dying too badly when Aaron's Idrians Intercept them. I still manage to kill a few. The Covenant reads the second passage, preventing enemy magic within 8" of it.
Aaron starts to work his way through my Idrians. Croe's Cutthroats can't hit Defense 16 (very few models can). Magnus uses his feat, Killbox, and Aaron declares my left edge and his deployment edge. My models in Magnus's control area can't move in either of those directions, so my Idrians have to settle for fighting the models they're in melee with.
Severius is free to move, however, and he uses his feat, the Fires of Communion, to try to cap unit leaders. It doesn't really work this turn.
Both of Magnus's Renegades fire their rockets at the Shieldwalled Temple Flameguard. They are knocked down by the template.
Trenchers Bayonet Charge as best they can, but the line holds up under Armor 18. Magnus then casts Lethargy on them so that their Strength and Melee Attack go down the remainder of this turn, and then it will go up next turn.
The Idrians try to approach, but Severius's Presence of the Creator ability drops their command by 2 and they fail their command check from the Wrack and turn to run.
Retaliation! The Temple Flameguard stand their ground and kill some Trenchers. Holy Zealots clear the rest out with Firebombs. My Idrians work their way through their Idrian Brothers and Croe's Cutthroats.
Severius casts a series of Immolations at Magnus, causing Critical Fire and damage.
I almost screw it up, too. Severius is just outside the 12" zone of Orin Midwinter's null magic field.
At this point, Drew almost calls time on the final round. Aaron gets the final turn since he went second, and his only option is to try to assassinate Severius with Magnus via his flanking arc node. It isn't enough. I win on Victory Points.
Post Mortem
Fun game. Holy Ward held the line against both melee and ranged attacks, and my troops' did well against the mercenaries. I freaked out when the Renegades dropped rockets, but I didn't realize they were one use abilities (he even had the rockets magnetized on the models so that he could remember!)
Looking over Magnus's spell list, Bullet Dodger on his Idrians would have wrecked my Firebomb tactic (if that even counts as a tactic) moving them up to engage me when they (inevitably) missed. Of course then I'd probably have relied on Severius to carry the weight on my left flank, but it was enough.
It was a fun game. Very cordial, though Drew (jokingly?) threatened to call me out for stalling due to my disorganization.
Good thing I won. Otherwise I'd have been SUPER disorganized.
