Norwegian Masters 2013 - Game 6

Hoarluk2 vs Terminus (Jesper Heyn Olsen, Cryx, Denmark)

[Edit] I accidentally had written Thagrosh instead of Terminus.

Scenario: Incursion

Terminus 

- Erebus
- Scarlock
10 Bane Thralls + UA
6 Bile Thralls
Corbeau
Combine
Tartarus
Siren

I believe his other list was Skarre with lots of Satyxis. I had never played Terminus efore. I guess that this had been a good opportunity to play Grim, but to be honest, I was starting to get a bit tired after so many intense games, and I thought it would be easier to play the troll Warlock I just had played nine times. Also, I was a bit worried about Biles against all my infantry in the Grim list... though in hindsight, I guess Grim's feat and the Nyss should have claned them. Anyway, Doomy out-threatens Terminus by quite a lot, and Mulg can one-round the big guy. So I'm fairly optimistic before the match starts.

Round 1

Thagrosh and his banes.

I moved up, and he moved up. The left flag disappears.

Round 2

Mulg is definitely in the wrong spot...

This is where I started to become a bit unglued. I looked at Hoarluk, looked at Terminus  measured ten times, and for some reason I thought that Mulg was within range of Terminus  If I had computed it, I would have realized that it had to be at least 15" (10" + 7" deployment + 6" Terminus dvance  + 10" Mulg run with Rush = 33", which leaves another 15" on the 48" table). After measuring a lot, I feated, Rök killed a lot of Banes. Then, when I was planning to charge Terminus  Jesper very graciously reminded me that I had to be out of range. With opponents like that, who needs friends? :D

At this point I should just have kept Mulg back, but for some reason I charged anyway, and killed maybe 3 Banes.

He then killed Mulg with Thagrosh and 3 charging Banes. So basically I threw away Mulg for nothing. Bad play, I have no excuse!

Erebus tried to charge Rök, but was at least an inch short.

Round 3

My destruction is being plotted.

I ran up the Gobbers, put one in base to base with the middle flag, and the other one so that I had a large base opening between it and Erebus, while still within 4" of the flag. This allowed Rök to kill Erebus without any of risk of Poltergeist pushing him away. but, I forgot to Refuge Rök back in range to contest the middle flag.  I placed the Pyre near the middle flag, and shot at the remaining banes, killing just one. Also a bad move, I should just have kept him out of charge range. I score one control point.

My mistakes catch up with me quickly. The Siren charges Rök, shadow binding him after doing a Puppet Master reroll. The Banes charge the Pyre, killing it. Terminus bravely kills the single Whelp I have on the right flag (his only kill during the whole match. Way to go, big boy! :D ). Jesper scores two points... and I could so easily have denied one of them.

Round 4

Rök does not like being Shadow Bound.

Desperation time. I Primal Shock away the Siren, clear the center flag, and score another control point. I don't have much to contest the right flag with. I run over my remaining Stone Scribes to try to contest it, knowing it to be a very long shot.

He moves up some Biles, the Combine and the Scarlock, and together they blast away my Scribes. Corbeau runs in to contest the middle flag. Last control point to Jesper, and he takes a well deserved victory.

Wrap up

Not much left now, and I lost the last Control Point.

I end up 4-2, with the highest Strength of Schedule in the tournament, giving me 5th place (out of 39 players).

This was a very tight game, probably mostly due to Jesper's insanely bad tough rolls (he failed EVERY tough roll). He did roll rather well on his Bane attacks, though, both could have gone the other way. Jesper played a much tighter game than me, and I made several critical errors. I don't feel that my game was up to my usual level at all. But 4 hardcore matches and 6 normal matches were starting to take their toll, I guess.

With hindsight, I guess a better strategy would to just have been to grind him down with Refuge and Rush. It was definitely possible for me to charge in, kill some stuff, and back out, every turn, with both Rök and Mulg.

Anyway, the better player won in the end, which is how it should be. Jesper was an amazing opponent, and I hope I get a chance to play against him again.

And, wohoo! Fifth place, not bad at all! :D