I stopped playing Warmahordes for most of this year – I think it was about April or so that I realised I just don’t have the time or inclination to play enough to get solidly good at the game to produce articles at a consistently high level. I still don’t have the time to do that! however; I’m feeling the urge again to play in light of the recent “throw out the baby with the bathwater” policy of Games Workshop. Don’t worry one bit, I’ll still be playing lots of 40k and posting about it though I had a pretty big 2013 with probably a tournament a month so something to go hand in hand with that would be nice. We’ll see if I can sustain it…

Anyway, expect to see more Warmachine/Hordes content on 3++, probably through the Forum section, with a focus initially on battle reports where I hope those of you who are better at the game will assist us to improve at a rapid pace. Also, as always, to any of you who wish to write consistently for 3++ or throw in some guest articles for Warmahordes, please let us know :).

So enough rambling, battle report time! My first “real” outing with Scyrah against my own Menoth army (wielded by a Trollblood friend). 25 points to keep our minds sane and not get too bogged down in the details – lists below. We’ve also put together a video battle report (make sure you subscribe *glare*) with some new additions – pictures in between rounds and close-ups of the army at the deployment phase to assist you to “see” the models from the top down view, provide some different vantage points and break up the monotony of the top down view. Let us know what you feel of these changes and/or any others you might have.

Retribution of Scyrah –

Ravyn (+6)

– Discordia (10)

Full Mage Hunter Strike Force (MHSF) + Unit Attachment (UA) (10)

Stormfall Archers (SFA) (5)

eEiryss (3)

Mage Hunter Assassin (MHA) (2)

Arcanist (1)

Protectorate of Menoth –

pKreoss (+5)

– Reckoner (8)

– Vanquisher (8)

Full Temple Flameguard (TFG) + UA (8)

Min Choir (2)

Covenant of Menoth (2)

Vassal of Menoth (2)

Deployment

The mission is a 5″ control point in the centre of the table – I completely forget about this and lose Turn 3 because of it but we continue on for the good of the game… I win roll off and let the Menite player go first as I would be out of range Turn 1 and wanted to avoid being hit twice by the Vanquisher (although Discordia gives me immunity to blast damage, I’d still be lit on fire). I probably could have done this still going first given I had so much Advanced Deployment stuff in my army but that’s what it is.

Pretty standard deployment for Menoth with the TFG in the middle, Vanquisher/pKreoss/Vassal to the right, Reckoner to the left, Covenant in the back and choir spread out along the backline. I placed Ravyn behind the wall with Discordia + Arcanist off to the left as I imagined that’s where the majority of my MHSF would end up with the Stormfalls on the hill to the right for the advantages of elevation. MHSF, eEiryss and the MHA all used Advanced Deployment with the MHSF spreading out in front of Disco + Ravyn and eEiryss and the MHA off to the right to maximise the forest and use of the building.

Menoth Turn 1 –

Reckoner and Vanquisher get a focus each; TFG run their littler hearts out and spread out whilst popping their mini-feat Iron Zeal to go to 15/19 with DWard (13/17 without). The Vanquisher runs straight up with the Reckoner running laterally away from eEiryss (smart move that) whilst the Choir advance behind to cast Passage on the Warjacks, the Vassal Enliven on the Vanquisher and the Covenant runs to get into a better position for next turn. pKreoss casts Lamentation on himself.

The Vassal should really have used Ancillary attack to try and launch a fireball at the MHSF and light a few on fire – it would have needed a good scatter but it was better than throwing Enliven on a Warjack that cannot be shot anyway. Furthermore, although getting the Reckoner out of eEiryss’ path, the move was too lateral which meant it was an effective half turn behind the rest of the Menoth army and therefore didn’t bring a whole lot to the table.

Scyrah Turn 1 –

With Iron Zeal, the TFG are a tougher than average nut to crack for the MHSF – they are ignoring Defender’s Ward thanks to Arcane Assassin but are still needing 7’s to hit (5’s if they aim) and 8’s to damage. However, I want that front line of TFG dead as I don’t want them to engage deep into my lines with a jam or be in a position to charge and do actual damage so the MHSF set about to keep out of charge range, avoid clumping to stop being lit on fire by the Vanquisher and have as many aiming as possible; eEiryss joins them in the forest (and moves a bit too close to be honest) and the MHA runs up the left flank near the building to put some pressure on the Menoth backline late in the game. eEiryss and the MHSF drop four the of TFG which leaves only one in potential charge range – i.e. the TFG are running next turn to jam.

The Stormfalls move along the hill when they should have run to get into ideal firing positions – they attempt to shoot but are woefully short, even with Snipe. Ravyn hands Snipe to the MHSF and drops a Veil of Mists on the right flank to try and protect the MHSF from the Vanquisher while Discordia gets Power Boosted and moves in the middle of the MHSF to drop her Imprint – this will stop the MHSF from dying to blast damage but doesn’t make them immune to fire.

Menoth Turn 2 –

Defender’s Ward and Lamentation are upkept by pKreoss and the Vanquisher moves forward again to try and drop a 4″ AOE on the Stormfalls who are a bit clumped from their poor movement last turn however; the blast falls short and scatters off as a miss. I feel the Vanquisher should have run towards the centre and used the Vassal’s Ancillary Attack here to drop the fireball template on as many MHSF around the Veil of Mists as possible though again we see the disadvantage of it not running its full distance Turn 1 as if it had been an 1″ closer, it could have dropped a boosted fireball on the Stormfalls and likely removed them with fire. The TFG run to engage the MHSF and eEiryss – only one would have made charge range and by running, five other TFG engage MHSF models which limits their movement and shooting next turn.

The Reckoner attempts to Assault Discordia but falls short again due to the minimal forward movement Turn 1 – however; it leaves the Reckoner on the scenario and provides a nice place for it to give its concealment buffer. Another inch though and it could have landed a boosted shot on the Discordia and potentially done some damage. Choir provides Passage again to stop Warjacks being shot, pKreoss hides behind Vanquisher, Vassal provides Enliven to the Reckoner and Covenant says no magic again. pKreoss probably didn’t need to be moved up that far and this put him in danger of a potential Snipe+Feat+Go assassination if Discordia could wipe several TFG with her spray…

Scyrah Turn 2 –

But I didn’t want to do that gamble. Ravyn upkeeps Snipe on the MHSF who proceed to move into better melee positions to gang up on the TFG and take three down in melee whilst the rest of the MHSF shoot and try to drop some of Menoth’s support. The Covenant takes a damage and the Vassal gets poked whilst eEiryss, freed from the TFG clutches, drops a Choir member. Discordia moves up and drops a spray on three more TFG but only manages to drop the UA Leader (silly RAT6). The Stormfalls continue to try and rain down AOE death but I stupidly try to carpet bomb the remaining TFG in combat and kill one of my own MHSF – I quickly stop this and end up taking down the TFG Banner. Ravyn finishes up by plinking a final TFG leaving three left and uses Swift Hunter to hide behind the Arcanist.

So – who noticed the massive issue here? You did? Good. I forgot about the scenario – all I needed to do was move one MHSF into the 5″ circle to stop Meonth from earning a point and didn’t. The result is Menoth earns a scenario point this turn and will gain one in their own turn going 2-0 up because I forgot the basics of any game: REMEMBER THE MISSION.

Menoth Turn 3 –

pKreoss drops Defender’s Ward – there’s only three TFG left anyway but keeps Lamentation up and moves up to drop his feat. This knocks down two of the Stormfalls, all but one of the MHSF and Discordia. I feel pKreoss could have been a bit more aggressive here and/or moved to the left just a tad to catch the MHA and eEiryss in the feat bubble and limit their options next turn (and get that final MHSF) but it did it’s main option to free up the TFG and shooting lanes towards Ravyn. The Vanquisher lobs a shell at the MHSF which auto-misses due to Stealth but gets a great scatter and kills one MHSF, damages the UA and torches Ravyn. The Reckoner assaults Ravyn but fails to do much damage as the Choir again went for Passage – I feel Battle would have been a much better bet here to get more reliable damage against her but the Flare hits at least. The two TFG thereafter move in but are unable to do any more than superficial damage.

Covenant drops no spells again and the Choir, pKreoss and both Warjacks are in the scenario.

Scyrah Turn 3 –

Everything stands up and here is where I really need to flood the scenario to stop losing during Menoth’s next turn…but again, I don’t. I use the MHSF to clear all but one of the choir, one TFG, drop the Covenant down to one hit box and try and plink pKreoss (but do diddly squat). Discordia drops her spray and damages the Covenant when I really should have tried to get her engaged with the Reckoner or into the scenario however; had her placed in a forest therefore limiting her movement – poor planning. Given I did all of this, the Stormfalls were well out of range to get into the scenario however; eEiryss and the MHA clearly would get in and the MHA dropped the final Choir boy whilst eEiryss placed herself such that neither Warjack was getting focus next turn. Despite this, this was only placing two (albeit DEF15/16) models in the scenario to stop Menoth from winning.

Ravyn dropped both TFG and used Quick Work to shoot down the Covenant and then Swift Hunter to again hide behind the Arcanist.

Menoth Turn 4 –

No Focus can be allocated due to eEiryss so the Reckoner turns around and whacks her with his big stick getting just enough to pummel her into the ground. With that done, pKreoss moves up to the MHA and drops her as well giving Menoth the scenario win 3-0. We continue to play though for shits and giggles with the Vanquisher dropping another MHSF.

Scyrah Turn 4 –

Ravyn upkeeps Snipe and feats with the MHSF and Stormfalls leaving pKreoss with four health boxes left. Discordia moves around and drops him with a boosted spray giving Scyrah the caster kill after losing the game. That’s what you get for not remembering the game end scenarios.

Conclusion –

Something to remember for all games – don’t forget about the mission. I did that and thus effectively lost Turn 3 when all I need to do was run a single MHSF model into the zone during my Turn 2 and it would likely have only netted the Menoth player a single point. This would have meant the caster kill Turn 4 – or simply leaving Menoth with only their warcaster and two warjacks (who couldn’t get focus) against most of a Scyrah army. Remember the mission – play for the mission. Other than that, lots of little things throughout which built up on both sides. The hill ended up being out of range for the Stormfalls to really do anything and therefore didn’t really contribute, the Menoth warjacks were too passive and didn’t take advantage of being able to run and then use the Vassal to shoot (or Assault with the Reckoner) and thereby put very little pressure on the MHSF who were able to pick off support pieces, the Choir continued to Passage the Warjacks rather than get them going with some beefy attacks, the MHA went a very long way around to get to the Menoth lines, Discordia put herself in a forest for no reason, etc.

Lots of little things add up over time and although when they happen on both sides the consequences aren’t that noticeable, there were two easy things to take from this game. 1) The Menoth army no longer existed as it was the TFG versus Scyrah for the first two turns and even then, the Warjacks didn’t get in and start beating any sort of face. 2) Scyrah lost on the mission despite having a commanding tabletop lead.