Nemo2 on Chain Attack

Chain Attack is playing my favourite caster, Nemo2, this week. I hope the old man wins! My guess on the grade: B+.

http://www.chain-attack.com/2012/10/episode-69-garryth-vs-enemo/

Update: They gave him a B, which I guess is fair.

I disagree strongly on the low survivability - Focus Matrix, 16" Control with Squire, and Energizer allows him to stay so far out of range that I almost never lose him, unless I have already lost the game some other way. What you do is that you can move his jacks out of his control on his turn, and then on the next turn you move up, use Focus Matrix to allocate, and Energizer to get jacks into position and Nemo back further out of range. You can easily be 20+" behind the front line and still run the jacks just fine. And, Eyriss2 a threat to Nemo2, with Stormcallers and Nemo2 being able to hang back way out of her 19" Threat? Come on. I have never, ever, seen that happen, and I've played Nemo2 against her so many times.

I'm also not so sure that Tier is *that* good, I haven't played it all that much, though. The bonuses are great, sure, but you lose so many good things - you will have no tarpit, and no Arlan. Arlan is the perfect support for Nemo - extra Focus, Disruption removal, and Evasive Action are all awesome.

I love playing Nemo with Sword Knights - a screen of either ARM 19 (against ranged) or unchargeable (against melee) Sword Knights combo so well with a couple of Reach jacks and Energizer. I'm pretty sure Boomhowler would be good as well.

Also, Fireflies are the worst Cygnar jacks, with bad defenses, bad melee *and* bad ranged attacks, and now that you can take the Stormwall for triangulations I don't see why anyone would ever bother going over Tier 1.

They didn't really note that Nemo2 has some horrible matchups. Anything that can mass Disrupt or lock down his jacks is a pain to deal with, and Mage Hunters are particularly bad. This is maybe his biggest weakness, he is pretty solid against most lists.

DM 2012 - Game 5 - Nemo2 vs Feora2

I was rather worried about taking Caine2 and all his expensive solos against Feora2. Jacks burn a whole lot slower than Gun Mages! So, Nemo2 it is.

The list:

(From memory, and I don't know Menoth well...)

Feora (Martin K)
-bonded redeemer
-vanquisher
-vanquisher
-repenter
10 errants + UA
6 zealots + UA
choir
wracks
2x vassals
eEiryss
covenant of menoth

The game:

I had a forest in most of my deployment zone. This forced me to put my jacks on the left outside the forest, gun mages on the right. Rhupert and sword knights in the middle.
He put Zealots on the right, jacks and Feora in the middle, Errants in front.

I run up and cast Fail Safe on the Centurion and Force Field on myself.
He runs up.

I shoot away half of his Errants and put Polarity on Thunderhead and Lighting Shroud on the Ironclad.
He kills all my Stormcallers - I had forgotten about Hunter. Eyriss zaps the Ironclad.

I feat. Arlan boosts the Ironclad, which splats Eyriss. Thunderhead pulses away most of his remaining Errants. Centurion reaches one of his heavies, which enlivens away. Damn! Fortunately it enlivens in a bad direction, it could have gotten Thunderhead the next turn.

His two heavies fail to kill the Centurion, which was a bit of bad luck. He feats, but there are few things burning. it just kills a couple of Sword Knights.

Centurion wrecks a heavy. Ironclad puts some damage on the Reckoner. Thunderhead pulses away most of the remaining support.
He finally kills my Centurion.

I run with my Gun Mages and box in his jack so it cannot Enliven, I rust, and then wreck it with the Ironclad. Thunderhead pulses away more stuff. Triple Pulse! First time ever. Only Feora and a light left.

I run to capture a Control Point with Gorman, and the Gun Mages contest the far zone.
He kills my Gorman with Feora. I have less than a minute left!

The result:

I run out of time and lose. I think it's about turn 7 at this point. A sad loss, after having decisively crushed his army. Three more minutes and it would have been a sure win!

Lesson learnt: Agonize less and roll more dice! This loss could easily have been avoided if I had played a bit faster.

Total score for me: 2-3, and 3 control points.

Edit: I've been informed my opponent was Martin K.
Edit: And he has provided me with the correct army list. Thanks!

DM 2012 - Game 3 - Nemo2 vs Kreoss2

I have not played much against Protectorate, so I was very unsure about what to pick. I felt that I would have problems keeping him away with my shooty list, so I went for melee and hoped my longer threat ranges would work to my advantage. If I remember correctly the other list was Kreoss1, and auto knockdown is no fun against Gun Mages.

It looks like I forgot to take photos in this one... we were using my phone for the timer... :D

The list:

Kreoss2 (Michael Ottesen)

- Fire of Salvation
3x 6 Knights Exemplar
2x 5 Bastions
Choir
Gravus
Exemplar Seneschal
Madelyn
Saxon
Rhupert

The game:

He went first and ran.
I moved up and shot a few Exemplars.
He moved further up.
I shot some more guys and engaged him, so he could reach now most of my stuff. Not a good move! I also killed his jack with my Ironclad.
He feated and went medieval on my army, killing a lot.
By this time I was rapidly losing the attrition war. But, Kreoss was far forward.
We had one more turn, my Centurion was boxed in. Nemo was engaged in melee with Gravus. But... Kreoss was 7.5 inches away from Nemo, over a wall. Could I do it?

The result:

I used my Gun Mages to push Gravus away and open a line to Kreoss. I Energized for one, walked over the wall taking a free strike, but I missed twice! This left him at about 8 boxes. It was a long shot, but really it was my only option.

Then Nemo got hammered to pieces...

I have to start to remember to not present my entire army to opponents with crazy damage feats! I do this all the time, instead of staggering my formations.

It was a fun game, and my opponent was a friendly and relaxed guy.

I'm down 1-2... but there is always beer. :D

DM 2012 - Game 2 - Nemo2 vs Kraye

Long jack threat ranges and even longer jack threat ranges. Who will hit first?

The list:

Kraye (Michael Glerup)
- Cyclone
- Stormclad
- Rowdy
- Minuteman
- Squire.
Jr.
3 Stormlances
Laddermoore
Black 13

The game:

This game unfortunately went rather one-sided after my opponent thought too hard, messed up his turns with some bad moves, and had some bad luck as well. So I'll just give the highlights.

Gun mages got Terror, and the Storm lances failed their command check when charging them,  splitting the unit in two and essentially putting them out of the game.

Cyclone got Full Tilt and charged out of his lines into one of my jacks, doing little damage. He told me the plan was to throw my jack away... but that can't be done after a charge.

I proceeded to kill the Cyclone.

He had to move Rowdy up to contest, so I dismantled him too. Also I dismounted Laddermoore. At this point he had lost a lot and I had lost almost nothing. It was really all over.

The result:

The game ended with me moving up to Pulse at Kraye and Black 13, finishing Kraye off with boxcars on a Stormcall. I guess I should have grinded for control points, but well.

Michael was a really friendly guy, and I felt rather bad for him afterwards... I know how annoying it is to overthink and then mess up. I hope we can get a rematch some time!

Danish Masters 2012

I'm flying to Århus, Denmark today, and the tournament will start on Saturday. I will try to keep this post updated as things happen.

First list - Nemo2

Nemo2 (+6)

- Centurion (9)

- Thunderhead (12)

- Ironclad (7)

- Squire (2)

Arlan Strangewayes (2)

Gorman Di Wulfe (2)

Journeyman Warcaster (3)

Rhupert Carvolo (2)

3 Stormsmith Stormcallers (3)

6 Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + UA (8)

10 Sword Knights (6)

Reinforcements:

Black 13 (4)

10 Sword Knights (6)

This list is essentially the same as my ETC 2012 list, but I've swapped out the Stormclad for an Ironclad, the third Stormsmith Stormcaller, and Rhupert.

Second list - Caine2

Captain Allister Caine (Caine2) (+5)

- Ol' Rowdy (9)
- Squire (2)

Arlan Strangeways (2)
Eyriss, Angel of Retribution (Eyriss2) (3)
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2)
Journeyman Warcaster (3)
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator (1)
Stormsmith Stormcaller (1)

Alexia Ciannor & The Risen (5)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages + Gun Mage Officer (8)
- Hunter (6)
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team (4)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (4)

Rangers (5)

Reinforcements:

10 Sword Knights (6)

2 Stormsmith Stormcallers (2)

Rhupert Carvolo (2)

This is my new list. Unfortunately, I haven't had enough time to practice with it. We'll see how it goes. :D


Update: NOK 97 for å completely ordinary beer at Rygge airport. WTF. I skipped buying the single slice of bread with shrimp on it for 129,-. How is it possible to ask prices like that?

Update: OK, I'm sorry for not updating yet. I was rather busy with playing, eating and drinking. But I took some notes, battle reports are forthcoming.

All Danish Masters 2012 posts:

Danish Masters 2012

Game 1 - Caine2 vs Haley1

Game 2 - Nemo2 vs Kraye

Game 3 - Nemo2 vs Kreoss2

Game 4 - Caine2 vs Stryker2

Game 5 - Nemo2 vs Feora2
Painting competition

Wrap up

ETC 2012 - Game 6 - Nemo2 vs Ossyan

We get matched against Dooleys, and are unable to swap pairings! This is sad, we don't want to play our regular gaming partners. We got feated on and I got Nima playing Ossyan

Scenario: Can't remember which scenario, but it was Killbox, which makes the matchup even worse for me.

Approximate list:

Ossyan
- Two iJacks, they all look the same to me. I guess one was Hypnos.
Eyriss
The Solo with Power booster
10 Halberdiers + UA
10 Mage Hunters + UA
8 Stormfall Archers
2 Ghost Snipers

This is pretty much my worst possible matchup. The list is a hard counter to my list. Ossyan's feat obliterates my heavy armor, with all the Mage Hunter and Stormfall Archer attacks at 4D6. Also, he has a lot of control abilities that stop my jacks from working.

Nima set up, from left to right, his Mage Hunters, Snipers, Archers, Ossyan with a jack, more Archers, Halberdiers, one more Jack. I had pretty much everything in the centre.

Turn 1: I move up.

Turn 2: He starts picking away at my Sword Knights. Half of them die. Halberdiers move on his scoring zone.

Turn 3: I go for the hail mary and try to send up Thunderhead to Pulse away the Mage Hunters, misjudging the distance and getting just one instead of five. I also move further up with the Centurion and Stormclad, vastly underestimating just how much damage he deals on his feat turn. My gun mages pick away a couple of Stormfalls and some more Mage Hunters. Unfortunately both units pass their command checks. My Sword Knights goes into his scoring zone.

Turn 4: Ossyan moves up and catches pretty much everything in the feat. All my jacks are obliterated in one single turn (Nima rolled pretty well). I have almost no army, but Ossyan is far forward. I completely forget that he also debuffs my ranged attacks, and so does Nima. I start going for an assassination, but we realize halfway through that I have one less die on my damage rolls, so it cannot possibly succeed. I shift and start filling up the zone he can score in.

Turn 5: He tried to get rid of everything in the zone , hoping to score some control points before killing Nemo. There is still a Gun Mage, the Squire and Gorman left.

Turn 6: I cannot win. All I can do is to try to not give away any Control Points. So, run Gorman towards my table edge, Energizer Nemo to turn him around, and charge Gorman so I go out of the killbox! I lose by running away. Next time, Nima, next time! :D

Nima commented afterwards that he couldn't really ignore the Thunderhead where it was, so if I had kept back my other jacks he would have been forced to feat to kill it anyway. This would have been a far better strategy for me, and I'll have to keep it in mind against heavy ranged Alpha Strike forces.

So, I end up going 3-3 in ETC 2012, and so does my team.

ETC 2012 - Game 5 - Nemo2 vs Sorcha2

This was a good game, and I hade a very nice and friendly opponent. I think he wan't completely updated on MkII rules though, which made some big problems for him early on.

Scenario: A Flag Too Far

Approximate list_:

eSorcha
- Beast 09

Kovnik Joe
Ayana and Holt

10 Black Dragon Iron Fang Pikemen + UA
10 Winter Guard + UA
10 Kayazy Assassins + UA

Reinforcements:

2 Manhunters
Yuri
Kayazy Eliminators

(That's a pretty bad ass flanking force!)

He set up, left to right, the Black Dragons, the Kayazy, and then Beast 09 and Sorcha towards the flag I needed to take. The Winter Guard were on the extreme right. I set up the Centurion to camp his first flag, then a line of Sword Knights, then the Stormclad, Thunderhead with the Gun Mages and support.

Turn 1: He runs up.

Turn 2: I move up a bit.

Turn 3: Enter the flanking force. Yuri and the Manhhunters go for the first flag, and the Eliminators for the second. He moves up and and takes some pot shots that don't do a whole lot of damage.

Turn 4: I Energize up and pulse away half the Winter Guard, with Black 13 and the Sword Knights on the right flank mopping up some more. Thunderhead is exposed, but i Disrupt Beast 09. The Centurion kills a pair of Manhunters.

Turn 5. He runs to engage with pretty much everything. Winter Guard kill some Sword Knights. Ayana casts Harm on Thunderhead. Sorcha moves up and tries to kill the Thunderhead, but does not feat, which is a big mistake. She rolls pretty normal rolls and fails. She cyclones back and is now standing way way too close to the Thunderhead, with no Focus. Kayazy run up and swarm the Thunderhead and the area between the Thunderhead and Sorcha, which is a good move at this point.

Turn 6. Black 13 with Blackpenny, Arcane Tempest Gun Mages, one Stormcaller and the Journeyman have no issues clearing out all the Kayazy. The line is open, I do not even need Arlan to give Evasive. I walk up three inches, Pulse, remove all the remaining Kayazy and Ayana and Holt, along with most of my Sword Knights and 2/3rds of the Black 13, making Watts the Black 4.3ths. I hit Sorcha with two more sustained attacks, leaving her at a couple of boxes. I activate my last Stormcaller, he presses the button... and zap. No more Sorcha!

My opponent unfortunately didn't know how Thunderhead worked, giving me a very straight forward assassination win. I suspect that he would not have had much of an army left anyway... my army hits like a brick, and running to engage it is pretty dangerous.

It was a good, short game.

I am now 3-2 and so is my team. :D

ETC 2012 - Game 4 - Nemo2 vs Deneghra

My opponent was worried about this matchup, but I had not played against Deneghra for a year, and forgot some important details about her spells, so he did not have that much to worry about. :D

Scenario: Incursion (I think), the three flag scenario.

 Approximate list:

Deneghra
- Two arc nodes
Satyxis
Banes
More banes
Tartarus
The Satyxis Solo

His setup: Satyxis on the left, banes centre and right.

My setup: Gun Mages on the left (stupid, I should have had them against the banes). Jacks and Sword Knights in the centre.

Turn 1: He moves up.

Turn 2: I move up. This is where it goes really wrong. I have only one answer to his infantry spam list, really. That answer is Thunderhead. What I should have done is make a bubble with Gorman, Centurion and Stormclad, and put Thunderhead in the middle. Then he would have been unable to arc spells into the Thunderhead.

Turn 3. Crippling Grasp on Thunderhead. I wasn't aware that it also blocked Special Attacks. That's it really, he can no longer Pulse, and since I do not have Eyriss I cannot remove it. Thunderhead is now just a big six ton paperweight, and my Gun Mages are way out position to deal with the banes.

Turn 4. I get completely overrun by an unlimited number of banes. Tartarus makes more banes. Banes banes banes. The board is very full of his pieces and rather empty of mine. 2-0 on control points to him.

Turn 5. I see one possible last ditch assassination ploy that requires about ten steps to get an Energized Centurion up to Deneghra. I need to clear a path for Arlan to the Centurion, give the Centurion Evasive Action, shoot out the three banes blocking the Centurion, Energize, walk the 2" he can walk under the Withering, and go for the hail mary and hope for a lucky Crit Sustain. I do the first five more or less correctly and then activate Nemo before the banes are cleared. OK, this was a very very long shot anyway, but it could have worked on stupidly good dice rolls. But well, I made a mess of it. I lose 4-0 on Scenario, since he scores the flags again,

Both me and my team are 2-2 after this.

ETC 2012 - Game 3 - Nemo2 vs Grim

I believe this game was against a player from Cheeseheads from the Netherlands.

Scenario: Radial with the one big circular zone in the middle.

Approximate list:

Grim
- Earthborn
- Impaler
- Bomber
Fell caller
Janyssa
Horthol

Fennblades
3 Long Riders
10 Pyg Burrowers

His set up: Grim in the rear with Janyssa, cowering behind the wall for most of the game. Beasts and Fenns towards the centre. Long riders on the right flank.


My set up:  Gun Mages and a Stormcaller on the left. Jacks and support in the centre, with the Sword Knights.


Turn 1: He runs and does not burrow, but hides the pygs behind a forest. Good move!

Turn 2: I move up, polarity, start flanking with the gunmages, getting ready for taking the first hit.

Turn 3: Bomber with Far Strike starts dealing out some damage. Fennblades run into the zone. Pygs burrow so they can pop up all over the zone.

Turn 4: Gun mages clear the way, and Thunderhead moves up and Pulses, killing a bunch of Fenns. Stormclad charges the Bomber but does not do a lot of damage. Again he fails me! Sword Knights try to jam the Long Riders. Arlan fails to repair. The zone is cleared. One point for me!

Turn 5: I am made to pay for my aggression. Grim feats, slowing my force. Bomber and Earthborn maxes out on fury and rips plenty of new holes in Thunderhead and Stormclad, scrapping them both. Pygs pop out and shoot, but don't deal a lot of damage. But it's already clear I'm on the losing end of the attrition war.

Turn 6: Centurion tries to kill the Earthborn and fails. Gun mages are beginning to threaten Grim and Janyssa.

Turn 7: Horthol and the Earthborn wails on the Centurion, not doing nearly enough damage. ARM 23 is sick.

Turn 8: I hit the Earthborn some more with the Centurion, failing to kill it. But, Gorman moves up! After my attack he blinds everyone, so both the Earthborn and Horthol and the Centurion are blind. This prevents Horthol from trying a Bull Rush next turn. Arlan repairs.

Turn 9: My opponent tries his best to kill everything that is left in the zone and the Centurion, but forgets to heal Body on the Earthborn, reducing the damage dealt. So, he fails. The Centurion is still alive! He is at about six boxes at this point. It's dice down, and I have eked out a 1-0 control point victory. If the game had continued I would almost certainly have lost. Very, very close one!

I am now 2-1 and so is my team. Go go go! :D

ETC 2012 - Game 2 - Nemo2 vs Deneghra2

ETC2012 - Nemo2 vs Deneghra2

My opponent was an awesome Irish guy, Philip Johnston.

Scenario: Two circular control zones where I need the one on the left on his side.

His approximate list:

Deneghra2
- An arcnode
- Nightmare
- Scarlock
Tartarus
Banes
The other banes
10 Bile Thralls
10 Ghost Raiders

He deploys from left to right: The vengeance banes, dark shroud banes and battlegroup, Bile Thralls and Ghost Raiders. I deploy: Gun Mages on the left, Battlegroup, support and Sword Knights in the centre, Centurion to the centre right. I have nothing on the right flank, intending to park the Centurion in the objective he wants. There is a building in the middle of the board, so I can force the Biles to have to run a big circle around the right flank.

Turn 1: He runs.

Turn 2: I run so that I am out of charge range.

Turn 3: Disaster! Arc node arcs a Hellmouth right into my support, killing way too much stuff. I think he killed Gorman, the Journeyman, a Stormcaller and a Gun mage, and did a few boxes on Nemo. I really should know this trick, having played Cassius. Ghost Raiders start reaching me, but the Biles can't really get anywhere. I realize the Gun Mages are on the wrong flank.Stupid!

Turn 4. I remove some banes, Feat, and Energize Thunderhead up. Bzzt! Banes die by the truckload, I think I got 7 or 8. I Sustain Attack Tartarus and he is fried. I charge Nightmare with Stormclad and... he misses on the boosted Charge roll, rolling 4... needing a 6 on 3D6. Damnation! I got to talk to the bodgers after this. Then he misses again with the buckler. The last swing connects, doing some damage. But this is serious. If I had killed Nightmare he would have had no way to kill my jacks.

Turn 5. I am overrun by blasted Ghost Raiders. They light Nemo on fire, and start making a few more. Deneghra feats, locking the front of my army in place, but not Nemo. Some Gun Mages are killed by banes. Nightmare kills the Stormclad.

Turn 6. The fire on Nemo fortunately goes out. I cannot move much, but have removed almost all the banes now. Nemo kills some Ghost Raiders engaging him and starts Energizing away for his life.

Turn 7. Thunderhead and some more Sword Knights die.

Turn 8. I charge the Centurion out of the objective to kill Nightmare. Things are looking ok at this point, we're both running out of steam, but I have a Heavy he cannot kill. Dice down! Unfortunately he has more models in the zones at this point and win on the tiebreaker.

An extremely close game! I think I would have had a win if the Stormclad hadn't flubbed that attack, this would have saved one or two of my jacks, and I do not think he would have had an answer to that. But, that's the way the dice rolls some times! He could also have been luckier on his two attempts to kill the old man.

Anyway, the Irish team was awesome, we had great games against them, and ended up going 2-2, losing on the tiebreaker. I would love to play them again, and I hope they will come to the Norwegian Masters next year. Though with their absolutely mad drinking skills, I think they would find it rather expensive... :D

ETC 2012 - Game 1 - Nemo2 vs Madrak2

Friday night, tournament time! My first opponent is a very happy Madrak2 player who was great fun to play, from "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Belgian". He was not the Belgian.

Scenario: Outfight, Outflank, Outlast.

Approximate list:

Madrak2

- Axer

- Mulg

- Runebearer

Fell Caller

Horthol

5 Long Riders

Fennblades + UA

Pyg Burrowers

5 Champions (reinforcements)

He deployed Fenns left, Pygs, Madrak and Mulg center, Axer, Long Riders and Horthol right. I had Centurion and Sword Knights left, then Thunderhead, Nemo and support, Stormclad, and finally Gun Mages right.

Turn 1: He runs and burrows.

Turn 2: I advance and set up outside his charge range, using Polarity.

Turn 3: He runs to engage with pretty much everything, except Mulg and Madrak, but forgets to deploy his flanking Champions,

Turn 4: WHAM. I remove some of the Fennblades near Thunderhead witth my support and feat with Nemo. Thunderhead energizes up into the hole I made and Pulses, frying about 3 Fennblades, 8 Pygs, and my own Gorman. My support kills the rest of the Pygs. Centurion moves up and tries to assassinate Madrak, which fails. Sword knights kill some more Fenns. On the right flank, Stormblade goes medieval on the Long Riders, and together with my flanking force I kill every single one and dismount Horthol. Two Gun Mages walk up and push the Axer out of control. Almost half his army are toast. Things are looking good! My opponent keeps drinking and smiling.

Turn 5: Axer goes bananas and charges the now Bull-less Horthol from the rear, decapitating him in one angry blow. Champions deploy. Mulg easily dispatches Thunderhead. Madrak  feats and kills some more stuff. Centurion has some scratches. I score my first control point on the right, which is now almost troll free - just the frenzied Axer left.

Turn 6: I fail to kill the Axer. My right flank starts moving to the left. More stuff dies on the left, Centurion is still standing.

Turn 7: He kills the Centurion but can't get his army over to the other side.

Turn 8.. More killing on the left flank. Centurion finally goes down to eMadrak and Mulg, but it does not matter. There is nothing on the right after my Stormclad kills the Axer. I score a control point.

Turn 9. I score the last control point since he's too far away. Win! Afterwards we drink some beer!

A really good start to the tournament! Our team won 3-1.