torsdag 29. november 2012

Playing Grim Angus

Update: I have changed my Grim Angus list.

Since I'm pretty much decided on using Hoarluk2 for one of my lists, I need to make a list that covers that list's weaknesses. My first option... Grim Angus.

I think Grim is a lot harder to build a list with. He's a pretty atypical troll, since he debuffs your opponent, rather than buffing your own models. This, of course, makes it possible to use pretty much any model in the game with him.

Her's my first attempt:

Grim Angus
- Earthborn
Fell Caller Hero
Horthol
Janissa Stonetide
Stone Scribe Chronicler
10 Kriel Warriors + 3x Cabers + UA
3 Long Riders

vs Haley1

A Leif and His Stormwall.
Haley1 with Stormwall, Black 13, Boomhowlers, support.

Not a great matchup with my mêlée infantry and low power attacks. I cannot use Bull Rush, I cannot charge, I cannot crack the Stormwall. So. I advanced up and tried to angle for position with the Long Riders. On the third turn I got LOS to Haley, feated, and shot her with Grim, rolling 5 on three dice for the damage. Whee. I also managed to screw up the troop placement, so I didn't manage to get the wall up. Leif shot me back, but didn't manage to kill Grim off, leaving him at 3 boxes. I cut myself for 2 Fury, leaving me at a single box, power attack pushed Janissa with the Earthborn to get her within spell range, did the Rock Hammer magic attack, and boom! Double four, knocking Haley to the ground. Grim followed up by shooting her dead. I could have hit her with a couple of spells as well.

I would really like to get some more shooting into the list, to make it easier to pull off the ranged assassination. I think this means the Long Riders have to go.

vs Lylyth2 

I changed my list completely. New list:

Grim
- Earthborn
- Pyre Troll
Fell Caller Hero
Feralgeist
Janissa
Stone Scribe Chronicler
10 Kriel Warriors + 3x Cabers + UA
10 Pyg Burrowers

Scenario: Close quarters without Killbox.

Lylyth2 with dual Ravagores.

Haakon moved forward, but not far, just walking.

Since I was in some doubt about whether I would reach him on the second turn, I decided to not burrow, but to run them forward instead. The Kriels spread out so that he could not hit two with a Ravagore blast.

Run, my minions, run!
Second turn he shot a handful of my dudes, but moved too far up with Lylyth, thinking he could step back after shooting. But the last Burrower he shot passed his Tough roll, preventing the move.

I then ran a Kriel in front of her and used the Caber to slam my guy over Lylyth, knocking her down. I then shot her with three of the Burrowers and Grim, killing her. Turn 2 assasination against Lylyth, how often does that happen? :D


Not where Lylyth wants to be.



vs Deneghra2


I bought a box of Bushwhackers and stuffed them into their bases, and swapped out the Pyre.


Grim
- Earthborn
Fell Caller Hero
Feralgeist
Janissa
Stone Scribe Chronicler
10 Kriel Warriors + 3x Cabers + UA
10 Pyg Burrowers
6 Pyg Bushwhackers


Scenario: Close quarters without Killbox.

Deneghra2 with Nightmare, Nyss and Witches.

He ran up.
Jonas Brand, our most evil Cryx player,
plotting my downfall

I moved up and did a CRA on his arc node with the Bushwhackers, knocking out the cortex.

He pulled back a bit, fearing my Burrowers, which were really close to Deneghra. He spelled away half the Bushwhackers.

I ran my Feralgeist into the scoring zone and Grim into the other, scoring a point at the end of the turn. Then I feated, shot some Nyss with the burrowers, locking down Nightmare and the rest of the Nyss.

He feated and killed quite a lot of my army. Deneghra was far forward, engaging two of my models. The borrowers burrowed, and I shot away my own Kriel Warrior with the Hero. Then I shot her with Grim, leaving her at 3 boxes. Unfortunately, my next spell failed to hit. Next turn she killed Grim, who was open and camping just 1 Fury.

I feated too early, I think. I should have just pushed forward and waited for his feat, then counterfeated.

Overall I was very happy with how the list performed. Definitely the closest game I have had against Cryx so far. I lost, but for once it wasn't a complete overrun.

vs Rahn


I played Nima, who had Rahn, 2x Battle Mages, Archers, Halberdiers, two lights.

I messed up an assassination run in turn 2 (he had Rahn within Kriel-slamming distance) by placing a pyg in the wrong spot, blocking my charge. Also, I had made an opening for Grim too small to walk through, giving me some activation order issues.This made my second turn rather inefficient, and he killed a lot of my dudes on his third turn. But, Rahn was then within striking distance, so I went for it. I used Janissa to Tectonic Shift away his Halberdiers blocking LOS, and Grim went up, feated, shot Rahn and cranked the damage, and then finished him of with a spell. A win, though not a very well deserved one.


Pyg Burrowers are painted


Pyg Burrower unit

My Pug Burrowers are painted!

These models have the rather ridiculous ability to mine under the battlefield, and then pop up behind enemy lines, letting go with their short range, high power guns. Fun to play, and very scary for the opponent!

I did some very minor conversion work on the miniatures. One got a red Khadoran hat, one got goggles, and (my favourite) one of the grunts got a beret, with matching tartan colors. All the sculpting was done using green stuff and some sculpting tools.

Pyg Burrower Grunt, with matching beret.
The leader got some minor Object Source Lightning from the lamp in his mining helmet.

The tartans are painted purple, with a purple/brown wash. Horizontal white stripes where added, and then a dark green grid. The center of the grid lines were then painted in with light green.

Pyg Burrower Unit Leader

mandag 26. november 2012

Hoarluk2 Tactics

Update: I have changed my list slightly.

Welcome! Instead of making a generic tactica, discussing every possible permutation of a list, and every possible use of every spell, I'll rather make one list and explain how it works. I won't go into much detail on each model. Enjoy!

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (35 pts)


Army List

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia

Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (Hoarluk2)
- Axer (6)
- Dire Troll Bomber (10)
- Dire Troll Mauler (9)
- Mulg the Ancient (12)
- Runebearer (2)
5 Whelps (2)


This list is a fast, super hard hitting alpha strike list. Hit first, and hit hard! And after that, I recommend you camp some Fury.

Models


The Axer is there to allow you to get up the board faster, give you an extra crazy feat turn, and allow you to reach the targets you want on later turns.

The Bomber is there to clear charge lanes, finish heavies, and assassinate casters.

The Mauler is there to make all your beasts hit hard, and to make Mulg able to one round Colossals.

The Runebearer is there to juggle a spell at the right moment.

The Whelps are there since you can potentially generate 18 Fury a turn, which is a bit too much to handle, even for the Rage of Dhunia.

And finally, Mulg is there to eat the world. Om nom nom.

Dire Troll Bomber, Dire Troll Mauler, Mulg the Ancient
Whelps, Runebearer, Hoarluk Doomshaper, Troll Axer

Deployment and first turn


Place the models close together, keeping three Whelps in reserve, and make sure Hoarluk can see the Bomber (Refuge) and Mulg (Wild Aggression). Throw out upkeeps and Rush on Mulg and charge the enemy. Let the Axer rush the Bomber and charge something, and then run up the board with Mulg, Bomber and Mauler. The Runebearer has no job the first turn, so just run him as well.

Feat


The Feat should buy you the alpha strike and allow you to do some extra attacks. Try to take out any hard-hitting troops or heavies that could threaten your heavies on the next turn. If you can do enough damage on your feat turn, the enemy may never recover. Even if only one of your heavies survives the counterattack, then Wild Aggression, tramples, and Primal Shock may allow you to assasinate the opponent's caster.

The Feat also gives you crazy long tramples, which can allow you to both kill a lot of infantry, but also reach models that thought they were safe between the infantry screen. Use the Bomber to clear a spot to land, then trample in.

Ability: Attuned Spirit


One extra Dire Troll animus per turn. Use it for Girded (if the enemy has AOEs) or Runebreaker (just because...) until you get engaged, then use it for free Rage.

Ability: Goad


This ability is great for beating through some troops to get hold of the heavy or warcaster you really want to kill. You can also use it after killing the front line of a unit to engage the next line. Be careful to calculate in Goad when moving Hoarluk, so that your beast doesn't suddenly leave your control on the assassination run.

Ability: Hyper Regeneration


If things start hitting you, and you're out of Fury, you'll probably die. If you lose so many beasts that you have to cut for Fury, the game is probably pretty much over anyway. You won't be using this ability much with this list.

Spell: Agitation


A fairly weak spell. You can use this spell to prevent transfers by increasing an enemy Warbeast's Fury to its maximum. You can also use it to make enemy Warbeasts take frenzy checks. This spell can mostly be countered by the opponent through careful play. It's easy for him to forget that Hoarluk has it, though, since he rarely uses it.

Spell: Refuge


An awesome spell, especially on a ranged beast, or against lists with very low threat. Place this on the Bomber initially, then use Rush + Refuge to move the Bomber 7", blow something up, and back out 7". This will put you out of the threat range of most mêlée models.

Spell: Primal Shock


Very useful for killing off key solos, clearing lanes, assassinating casters, and finishing off wounded heavies. With the Runebearer this spell can be cast four times, or two times fully boosted. This can be enough to straight up kill weaker casters, especially if you can get Mulg to slam something into them first.

Spell: Sunder Spirit


Another fairly weak spell, since Primal Shock costs the same, has greater range, and hits harder if cast through Mulg. I guess it could be useful if you can't kill some beast, *and* need to get rid of its animus, *and* cannot get Mulg with Runebreaker nearby. Which is pretty unlikely...


Spell: Wild Aggression 


Mulg is the ultimate recipient for this spell. With his potential eight attacks (2 initials, 5 Fury, and Warlock Affinity), it's like getting up to nine free Fury each turn to boost and charge. With this spell on, Mulg will hit on almost every attack against enemy heavies, lights, and all but the highest DEF infantry. Also, the boosted attacks will increase the chance of landing the Critical Smite. After charging or goading, try to move Mulg so that the Smite will do maximum damage.

The Mauler and Axer are good secondary targets. The Axer will mow through infantry with his Thresher, and the Mauler will be almost certain to land his Grab & Smash.

This is a good spell for the Runebearer to use his minifeat on, it can allow you to cycle Wild Aggression on up to three of your Warbeasts on the same turn!

Matchups


This list is excellent against heavy armor lists that you out-threat, especially Colossals. If they out-threat you, you will have a problem. I don't think many lists do, though... 14" threat is pretty long. Possibly you might offer up the least important beast (the Bomber) and try to get their heavies in the retaliation.

Against mass infantry you might have issues, since there is no Krielstone nor Janyssa. If possible, try to keep your beasts together and engage one flank at a time. If the infantry is slow, then Rush + Refuge + Goad tricks may work (go in, kill as many as you can, save one Fury, Goad and then Refuge away). Otherwise, Bomber and then Axer / Mulg with cycled Wild Aggression should (hopefully) be able to kill quite a few of them. And if they don't kill your beasts in one turn, well, om nom nom and heal back up.

Another solution against small base infantry is of course to just trample then Goad to whatever you actually want to kill. With the free trample and extra strike a trampling Mulg with Wild Aggression can stomp across a lot of infantry first, then snack on the heavy behind them. 

Iron Flesh Kayazy are (as always) a pain to deal with. With some clever placement and Crit slamming you might be able to get some extra kills. You can also run in a Whelp and then shoot it in the back with the Bomber, this will allow you to place the 4" AOE anywhere you like.

søndag 25. november 2012

Playing Hoarluk2

Update: I have created a Hoarluk2 Tactics post.

One of the lists I am working on for Norwegian Masters is a list with Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (Hoarluk2). Just for fun, I wanted to try him with nothing but Dire Trolls:

Hoarluk Doomshaper and his hungry trolls
Hoarluk2
- Bomber (10)
- Earthborn (10)
- Mauler (9)
- Mulg (12)

vs Harbinger


Mulg snacks on the Harbinger
This is just a crazy fun list. I tried it against Harbinger. We both moved up. He tried to lock down my heavies by using Gaze and running with the Avatar, but I grabbed it with the Mauler, hit it twice and threw it away, and proceeded to eat Harby with Mulg after eating a choirboy and goading.

vs Ravyn


Earthborn snacks on Ravyn
Then, I swapped the Bomber for an Axer, Whelps and Runebearer. I played against Ravyn. I got shot at a bit, but lost nothing important. Mulg then one rounded Hyperion, and the Earthborn walked through the wreck and one shot Snacked Ravyn.

vs Deneghra


The last game was against Deneghra2. In this game, I also swapped the Mauler for a Pyre and Krielstone + UA. She got a bit close, and I tried to assassinate her by trampling Mulg into a forest containing two Nyss, unfortunately I missed twice when trying to kill the first one, This left me at three fury when I reached Deneghra, who was camping quite a lot of Focus. I hit twice and slammed her away, but she was left at three boxes. Close! The Nyss charged Mulg and killed him, and Deneghra locked down most of my army with her feat. Unfortunately, the store closed at that point. I did have a Primal Shock assassination run open, since the Earthborn was a bit back and out of the feat bubble, it could trample up and allow me to do two fully boosted POW 12 primal shocks on Deneghra. We'll never know how it would have turned out, but on average dice it should be enough to hit with one of them to finish her off.
Moving up the board against Deneghra

I guess the conclusion so far is that the Axer is awesome to have for the increased threat and Pathfinder, so I won't run the single battlegroup list. My list going forward is going to be:

Hoarluk2
- Axer (6)
- Bomber (10)
- Mauler (9)
- Mulg (12)
- Runebearer
5 Whelps (2)

Then I have a nice target for Refuge, with the Axer animus it can move 7", shoot twice, and then walk 7" away again. This will allow it to stay out of charge range of almost everything after the shots... and with Wild Aggression and the Mauler animus it's still no slouch in mêlée.

There's no defense for Hoarluk in this list, so it depends on him holding as far back as he can, and camping Fury. I might swap out the Runebearer for a Feralgeist and a Swamp Gobber, this will make it easier for me to hold and defend objectives, and give me something to hide behind, but I'll lose the free buff swap.

vs Kromac


It looks like I can out-threat Circle. This is good. I used the Refuged Bomber to clear a line to his heavies, and charged in Mulg to almost take out two of his beasts. After this he feated with Kromac and killed the Mauler, Bomber and Axer, but I still had Mulg. So I POW 13 Primal Shocked Kromac twice, then proceeded to Snack him for the win.

vs Asphyxious2


I died in turn 2, not really having understood the insane threat range of his feat. I think this would have been very hard to win, anyway! Banes with Tartarus under the feat would have murdered my heavies, as well.

mandag 19. november 2012

Earthborn Dire Troll is painted

Dire Troll Bomber, Mauler, Earthborn, Mulg the Ancient
I have finished my Earthborn. I'll celebrate this occasion with a group shot of all the Dire Trolls I have painted so far! Now I just need to finish Hoarluk Doomshaper, Rage of Dhunia (Hoarluk2), and I'll have a valid 35 point army containing a grand total of 5 models. It might even work... :D

Hoarluk2 (+6)
- Dire Troll Mauler (9)
- Dire Troll Bomber (10)
- Earthborn Dire Troll (10)
- Mulg the Ancient (12)

The Earthborn's crystals were inspired by orange garnet. I had a few tries before I ended up with this version. The crystals are striped Skorne Red at the base, then a Fiery Orange / Skorne Red mix, then Fiery Orange at the top. Afterwards I have lined in the parts I wanted edge reflections in with white, and given a single glaze with yellow ink on the middle and top of the crystals, removing any ink that seeped into the base. I'm happy with the result, I think the extremely high contrast works.


WARMACHINE and HORDES gaming in Oslo

This is Outland Kirkegata, the place we usually meet up to play in Oslo. Outland is just great. Not only do they have gaming tables, they also have coffee, a good selection of minis and accessories, and they can also order stuff for you. They have space for 6 or so WARMACHINE tables. Currently, there is regular play on all Wednesdays (from about 17:00) and Sundays (from 12:00), and there is almost always someone there. Unless there is a tournament going on...

The top picture is from a Wednesday during the Journeyman League. As you can see, the place was filled up.

The bottom picture is from a practice game with my Trolls against Thomas' Legion army for the Rookie Mistake V tournament. I'm playing Borka, the most drunk Warlock in the game. I like his playstyle, he's wicked hard to kill, and it's always a blast to start the first turn with running your Warlock straight at the opponent, with the rest of the army following behind. :D

There is also regular WARMACHINE gaming at Oslo Miniatyrspillklubb (OMSK) on Fridays (from about 17:00) at Grønlandsleiret.

By the way, if you'd like to try your hand at the game, we have an active WARMACHINE forum at 2D6. I write there under the nick 'Pjolterbeist'. There are currently three official representatives (Press Gangers) for Privateer Press living in the Oslo area, who'll be more than happy to run demo games.

There is an active tournament scene in Norway. Next year (19-20th of January, 2013) will be the Norwegian Masters. In addition, there are tournaments at ARCON each summer, a series of 16-man tournaments called Rookie Mistake, some more tournaments and special events at irregular intervals, and a yearly Journeyman League for new (and old) players. I would guess there are about ten WARMACHINE tournaments and events in Oslo each year.

torsdag 15. november 2012

Dire Troll Bomber is painted




Bombs away! Another Dire Troll painted. I went with a citrine-ish color scheme for the crystals on this guy. The model is nice, I like the dynamic pose, and the tiny pygmy troll swinging a torch while desperately trying to hold on is just awesome. I wonder where the Bomber keeps his spare ammo, though. :D

mandag 12. november 2012

Mulg the Ancient is painted

I have started painting properly again, after a couple of lazy months doing mostly basecoating. For your enjoyment: Mulg the Ancient, Bluntest Instrument of the Trollbloods, and Snacker of Legion Warbeasts (my current record is Snacking two in a single turn :D ).



I wanted a quartz-like look to the stones, so what I did was coat the stones several times in white, until it was completely even. Then I painted each face, with a darker grey at the base, and lighter further up, striping it a little, and leaving the white on the edges and top. Then I inked yellow over the runes. OK, so it's doesn't look exactly like quartz, but I think it works.

Mulg smash!

Warmachine Weekend finals video and interviews


This is pretty awesome, a video of the Warmachine Weekend Finals! Chain Attack also has an interview and battle report with the players, where they discuss their tactics.




Damn, that table is beautiful.

We should try to have something like this set up for the Norwegian Masters... :D

fredag 9. november 2012

Playing Trollbloods at Rookie Mistake V

So, we have these 16-man tournaments in Oslo called Rookie Mistake. This is going to be first time playing Trollbloods in a tournament. I have practiced way too little, so I expect this to be fairly hard...

My lists:

Borka
- Mauler
- Mulg
Fell Caller
Stone Scribe Chronicler
10 Kriel Warriors + UA + 2x WA
4 Krielstone + UA

Reinforcements:
3 Long Riders

This list is my heavy hitter list, which I intend to play if I run into Colossals and suchlike, or anything else that Jarl cannot punch through. Mulg can get up to a juicy POW 23, and Borka, the Mauler and the Cabers also hit pretty hard. The Kriel Warriors are there for being annoying and Iron Fleshy while I set up my heavy punch.

Jarl
- Bomber
- Impaler
Fell Caller
10 Kriel Warriors + UA + 3x WA
Feralgeist
Chronicler
Swamp Gobbers
10 Pyg Burrowers

Reinforcements:
3 Long Riders

This list is supposed to be a fairly grindy and accurate list, to use against troops swarms. A clear weak spot is the fairly low POW in the list, but on the other hand it has 31 Tough infantry models...