Last stand of Vlad and his valiant Winter Guards

Vlad is at his last stand. After leading the infamous Winter Guards for over a year, it is about time to allow him to rest. Going out with a bang is important. So, Vlad went to a five game tournament where he got to face Crucible Guards, Dwarfs, Skorne and Infernals. At the end of a busy day, it is not completely clear that he actually went out with a bang. He did, however commit 100% in every single battle and tried out all tricks that he could think of. Here are the adventures of Vlad's five game last stand.

I have been playing Vlad1 and his infamous Winter Guards almost exclusively for a bit over a year. It has been fun. Yet, all good things come to an end. The crazy hermit have had weird visions (that are obvious not correct when it comes to Vlad) where Vlad does his last stand (see here for details). It only seems fitting that I also end my Winter Guard Command list with a bang. I took the list to a tournament, where Vlad was allowed to play against anything and everything.

Vlad and his proud Winter Guards

Vlad is again leading the normal list, which has been steady for the last year. For some of the original reasoning behind the list, see here. Compared to the original list, the Mortar Crew has been exchanged for a Greylord Adjunct. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Winter Guard Kommand

[Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Marauder [11]
 - Greylord Adjunct [0(4)]
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(4)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [4]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [8]
 - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]
Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17]

The tournament is over five games. It was a team tournament where Vlad's two other team members played Cygnar and Minions. We ended up as number 10 out of 19 teams, so not too shabby. Vlad managed to face Crucible Guards twice, Dwarfs (Mercenaries), Infernals, and Skorne. I am not going to do detailed battle reports for each game; rather, a summary of each.

Crucible Guards under Gearhart1 in Magnus Opus

Crucible Guards is a returning issue. Vlad has faced them once before (see here for battle report), which was also led by Gearhart. They two main obstacles tends to be the Rocketmen and spray trains. Luckily, there are no spray trains here, only a Vulcan. However, a Vulcan is considered lunch for the triple Marauder goodness. The Rocketmen are still an issue, they tend to be really annoying and quite difficult to hit. There are also Trancers here. They are ubiquitous in Crucible Guards lists nowadays. I think I tend to overestimate them. Finally, the Infantry can be really Winter Guard hostile with their shooting. Yet, I'm not too worried. The list is as follows:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
- Retaliator [9]
- Vulcan [35]
- Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
- Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
- Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
- Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon's Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller King of the Hill scenario. Gearhart won the roll-off and decided to go first. Vlad pick the side with a linear obstacle. He really likes to stay behind those.

Gearhart deployed with all the shooting on the left flank (Archon, Dragon Breath and Infantty), the Rocketmen go the the right flank, and all the rest in the middle, with the Vulcan slightly to the right. Vlad deploys in the standard formation. The picture below shows the end of the deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most other first rounds: everybody moves forward. Gearhart moves everything forward and spreads the infantry out a lot. Vlad does more or less the same thing, with the addition of the two carriages taking pot shots and the Archon, with no effect, and the Rocketmen, where it actually manages to take out two.

The second round starts off with the guards doing some of their dirty tricks. The Retaliator sprays Black Humor on one of the Marauders, whilst the Vulcan puts rust on another Marauder. The Rocketmen pushes forward on the right flank and engage a Field Gun and a carriage. All in all, the guards are now in all zones and in a situation to score at all objects and the flag. Vlad needs to be creative to not start loosing on scenario. Creativity equals feat time! This early feat brings one Marauder into the face of the Vulcan and one far into the centre zone to contest both zone and flag. The last one is held back as a backup. The two carriages do what they do best. They move into the rectangular zones, clear out an Archon, an objective, and a few Rocketmen. Suddenly, Vlad is ahead on scenario.

Round three is a cleaning up round for Gearhart. He removes the two Marauders who went upfield - and the reserve! Vlad retaliates by keeping on killing Rocketmen and lopping grenades on the Vulcan. He also keeps on scoring and contesting.

The fourth round starts with the Vulcan removing the remains of one of the Gun Carriages, and thinning out in the Winter Guards. He also sacrifices troops to keep on contesting. But, he is slowly but steadily running out of steam (and clock). As a last attempt, a few Rocketmen attempts to assassinate Vlad. Clearly without success. Vlad takes advantages of these weaknesses and (finally) gets the Gun Carriage to remove the Vulcan, whilst the remaining contesting troops are killed. Vlad returns the clock to Gearhart, who then proceeds to clock himself. The picture below shows the end of the fourth round and the game.

End of game

Victory to the Motherland! We ended with 4 scenario points to Vlad and none to Gearhart. Vlad killed the equivalent of 87 points, whilst he had to hand over 54 points to Gearhart. All in all, a good result. There really isn't any big comments to be made. It is the perfect scenario for this list. Vlad behaved and no great mistakes were made.

Skorne under Rasheth1 in Disciples of Agony

Surprisingly, Vlad is not too familiar with Skorne. I'm aware of the rumour of them being quite difficult. There are two of these Animantarax; they are definitely "good value" for the points. Yet, they are huge bases, so the Marauders will be a natural threat to them. I have never faced Rasheth before. Besides having a natural affinity with well build men, I have no idea what he does (I did, however receive a good description by my very nice opponent). It seems to be a shooting and scenario list. With the two battle engines and the cyclops, along with the many solos, it could be an interesting battle. It also turns out that the opponent is pretty adept (this teams actually comes second in the whole tournament). Nevertheless, Vlad is ready to face the following list:

[Theme] Disciples of Agony

[Rasheth 1] Dominar Rasheth [+28]
- Agonizer [0(6)]
- Basilisk Krea [0(7)]
- Cyclops Raider [9]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
- Cyclops Shaman [8]
Bog Trog Mist Speaker [4]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
Orin Midwinter, Rogue Inquisitor [5]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [0(4)]
Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor [4]
Paingiver Task Master [3]
Void Archon [8]
Farrow Valkyries [8]
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min) [5]
Siege Animantarax [17]
Siege Animantarax [17]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Spread the Net scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and decides to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern, with two Marauders on the left flank. Rasheth deploys himself on the right flank with all the cyclops. The two battle engines go in the middle, and the rest on the left flank. The picture below depicts the end of the deployment phase.

Deployment

The first round takes off with Vlad pushing forward, more or less as far as possible. That is pretty important in this scenario. This brings the left carriage up to the flag, and the other one into the zone. So far, so good. Rasheth shuffles his tropps around and manages to take down the Gun Carriage on the right flank.

Second round means even more pushing forward. Rasheth and his army doesn't appear to want to fight. So, Vlad has to bring the fight to him. One Marauder is parked in the zone to the right to start scoring. The last Gun Carriage has to push forward into the Skorne zone on the right. Everybody else go forward, and an Artillery Kapitan on the left flag. Rasheth continues his "I haven't got a pair" approach with the two battle engines shuffling forward, shooting and then do a "Cygnar-advance". Unfortunately, this approach is efficient and cost Vlad his second carriage. The Void Archon moves forward to contest the rightmost zone and tie up the Marauder.

The third round starts off with a scenario score of 1-1, Vlad needs to score, as it is unlikely that he will get rid of the two battle engines. The Void Archon is taken care of, and the Marauder moves forward to still score but also contest the flank on the right flank. The left most Marauder moves into the cloud and kills the solo standing there and puts a foot in the left zone. Finally, Vlad moves up behind the last Marauder to score the middle zone. This actually put Vlad at 4-1 in scenario score! Rasheth is feeling the scenario pressure. The two battle engines are finally moving forward. This kills the leftmost Marauder and the Kapitan at the flag. There is now a battle engine in the leftmost zone and two cyclops in the middle zone. All of the Winter Guards have also disappeared. Scenario is now at 5-3 in Vlad's favour.

Fourth round is finally feat round. Not feating has actually kept everybody from getting too far forward. Defensive (not) use of Vlad's feat is not to be frown upon. Making three scenario points will win the battle for Vlad. This is doable, as the rightmost Marauder will score automatically, Joe can move to the flag of the left and score. So, cleaning up the middle zone will win the game. Vlad and a Marauder goes into action and kills everything but a Valkyrie, She is taken care of by the rightmost Field gun and Joe. The game should be secure. Herein lies the mistake. The leftmost Field Gun also wants to shoot at stuff and kills the last Valkyrie in the unit. The game is now lost. I completely forgot that a battle engine has a foot in the leftmost zone. So, instead of a scenario score of 8-3, it is 8-4!

Fifth round kills Vlad. The picture below shows the end of the game. The red arrow depicts what the field gun did: it shot a Valkyrie. The green arrow depicts what it should have done: moved into the leftmost zone to contest.

End of game, due to greed!

This was going surprisingly well. Vlad was actually pretty much in control. Pushing hard forward and saving the feat gave him a really strong scenario pressure. He had actually won the game. But, the man behind the line got carried away and went into a killing spree instead of thinking. There is no excuse for this behaviour, and Vlad had words with him after the game. This was really annoying!

Anyway, Rasheth should be happy that Privateer Press removed the guideline: "play like you got a pair". This game was much more a: "I can shuffle forward and shoot, and then run away and hide again". Apparently, not having a pair is a winning strategy, at least when it comes to killing the enemy. Vlad could probably have been even more aggressive to get Marauders to the battle engines. However, Vlad was in control until he was led down by the man behind the line.

Mercenaries under Ossrum1 in Hammer Strike

Ossrum and all of his bunnies are often difficult. Vlad has not faced them before, but Irusk with his Winter Guards have (for battle report see here). The spray bunnies are really Winter Guard hostile. The two Drillers are surprisingly dangerous, given their low cost. The combination of Ossrum and the Hammer Strike theme is deceptively mobile. The combination of Energizer, Bulldoze from the theme and the feat is dangerous. The benefit is that when they move as fast as they can, they are quickly within reach of Vlad's feat. The extra new feature, which I haven't seen before is the Siege Crawler. It seems to be pretty good. It is clearly food for Marauders. Vlad is ready and pretty confident facing Ossrum's list:

[Theme] Hammer Strike

[Ossrum 1] General Ossrum [+28]
 - Ghordson Driller [10]
 - Ghordson Driller [10]
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Blaster [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
 - Grundback Gunner [6]
Harlowe Holdemhigh [0(5)]
Thor Steinhammer [4]
 - Ghordson Avalancher [15]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Artillery Corps [0(6)]
Horgenhold Forge Guard (max) [16]
Hammerfall Siege Crawler [18]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Invasion scenario. Ossrum wins the rolloff and opts to go first. Vlad chooses the side with a trench to stand in. Ossrum deploys many 'jacks on the left flank, along with Thor and his Avalancher. The Siege Crawler goes on the right flank along with the infantry. Everything else goes in the middle. Vlad deploys in standard formation, with two Marauders on the right to counter the Siege Crawler. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

Deployment

The first round is like most first rounds. Ossrum and his motley crew rush forward, keeping the artillery a bit behind. Vlad does more or less the same. However, the two carriages pull out on the flanks to avoid the extreme charge range of Ossrum's 'jacks. The Rifle Corps on the left stay behind, whilst the rightmost spread out to avoid blast. Vlad goes into his trench.

Ossrum feats at the beginning of the second round and hurl his army forward. A Field Gun and half of the rightmost Rifle Corps disappear to a combination of bunnies and Siege Crawler. Personally, I thought it might have been a bit early to feat. But, on the other hand it puts pressure on Vlad. Vlad counter feats. On the left side, there is a knockdown galore. The combination of the last Field Gun, the Gun Carriage and Marauders remove some of the 'jacks and knockdown a lot, leaving easy targets for the Winter Guards. The right flank is more difficult. Forge Guards under feat is really really difficult to get rid off. So, the Rifle Corps and the Gun Carriage can only try to contain the flank.

The third round begins with Ossrum cleaning up the right flank. The combination of a Siege Crawler and a unit of Forge guards is surprisingly dangerous. On the left flank, nothing happens as Ossrum's 'jacks hit the Khador wall of steel. One of the Drillers breaks through and kills the objective. This is an interesting battle. The battle field has kind of flipped 90 degrees. Vlad moves his army around the left flank. The Gun Carriage moves forward and shoots at Ossrum, who is in the middle of the centre zone, behind the forest. Two of the Marauders clear 'jacks away. The Rifle Corps move into the zone to score. Vlad moves towards the zone, there is a Driller nearby. The last Marauder makes it through the forest and starts hitting Ossum. Unfortunately, it runs out of focus before Ossrum runs out of boxes (he has two left).

Ossum is for all practical reasons dead. There is a completely factory new Marauder in his face. The circle in the picture below shows Ossrum's nightmare. He needs a Hail Mary in the fourth round. After much deliberation, Ossrum has a plan. He allocates focus to the Driller on Vlad's part of the battle field. He casts Energizer (see arrow on the picture below). The Driller moves forward close to Vlad. It is touch and go if the Driller can get away with it here. He rolls to hit with the Drill - and rolls double six (see picture to the right). Game over. The Drill has Sustained Attack. Much jubilation and taunting is now going on behind Ossrum's lines.

A Hail Mary saves the day!

I many ways, this was touch and go. If Ossrum hadn't pull out a bunny (actually a Driller) of his hat, he would have been dead the following round. Vlad could probably have protected himself better by filling up with troops between himself and the Driller. 

Infernals under Zaateroth1 in Dark Legacy

I don't really enjoy Infernals. I have played them a couple of times, and they are just too much a "got you" faction. Their weird mechanics and the option to keep on bringing Horrors onto the table doesn't really work well for the game, and give a negative play experience. I would assume that this would also hold for the one playing Infernals, but the faction seems to attract a certain type of players. I could be tempted to just fold and ignore them, as I find Infernal games really boring. However, it is Vlad's last stand. So, he charges onto the table hell bent on going down in flames. He is eagerly awaiting to face the following list (while the man behind the line rather would be in the bar):

[Theme] Dark Legacy

[Zaateroth 1] Zaateroth, The Weaver of Shadows [+26]
- Foreboder [4]
- Soul Stalker [13]
- Tormentor [12]
- Tormentor [12]
- Lord Roget d'Vyaros [4]
Eilish Garrity, the Occultist [5]
Great Princess Regna Gravnoy [0(6)]
Hermit of Henge Hold [5]
The Wretch [4]
The Wretch [4]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Umbral Guardian [0(6)]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
- Master Preceptor Orin Midwinter [4]
Cultist Band (max) [7]
Griever Swarm (min) [8]
Infernal Gate [12]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Anarchy scenario. Vlad wins the rolloff and thinks if there is to be a chance in hell, he has to go first. He deploys in the standard pattern. The Infernals put some stuff on the table. To be fair, it was a very lovely painted army. The picture below shoes the end of deployment.

Deployment

First round: Vlad charges ahead. Infernals moves forward.

Second round: The Gun Carriage on the left flank digs deep into the Infernals. Everybody else really wanted to shoot. But clearly there is some Infernal trick against that. The infernals do infernal stuff and kill most of Vlad's army. Anybody arguing that the heavy horrors are balanced because they are squishy can only be an infernal player.

Third round: Vlad charges a Soul Stalker to go down in flames. He surprisingly misses and it moves away. So much for a heroic final stand. Infernals kill Vlad. See picture below.

End of game

What can I say? To be fair, it is clear that playing this Vlad WGK list into Infernals is obviously not a good idea by any measurement. But, Vlad is on a mission. Yet, I find Infernals really really boring. One could argue that the mechanics is new and fun. You can summon horrors at a cost, there is a gamble to be made. One would clearly be wrong. I'm getting a GW 40k feeling when thinking about them... 

Crucible Guards under Gearhart1 in Magnus Opus

Wait a minute, haven't I seen this army before? It is identical to the one I faced in the first game. This is the last game of the day. So, there is some beauty in the symmetry. It is, however a different player piloting the army this time. Vlad beat the guards in the first game. So, there should be a reasonable chance in this game. Unfortunately, I suspect that this player is better than the first one I faced. Vlad is ready to face (again) the following list:

[Theme] Magnum Opus

[Gearhart 1] Marshal General Baldwin Gearhart [+27]
- Retaliator [9]
- Vulcan [35]
- Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc [5]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Crucible Guard Mechanik [0(2)]
Thamarite Archon [8]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Trancer [0(3)]
Crucible Guard Infantry (max) [15]
- Crucible Guard Infantry Officer & Standard [4]
Crucible Guard Rocketmen (max) [15]
- Crucible Guard Rocketman Captain [4]
- Rocketman Gunner (1) [2]
Dragon's Breath Rocket [5]

We are playing the 2019 Steamroller Recon II scenario. Gearhart wins the rolloff and decides to go first. Vlad picks the side with the lovely wall to lean on. Gearhart deploys with the Vulcan in the middle, the Rocketmen on the right flank, and the infantry on the left. The Archon also goes on the left, whilst everything else go in the middle. Vlad just deploys in standard formation. The picture below shows the end of deployment.

Deployment

The first round is very much like most other first rounds. Gearhart advances everything. Vlad counters by doing the same. The two Gun Carriages advance and toe each of their zones. They also take pot shots. With no effect, except a few difficult terrain.

Round two starts off with the Vulcan, Infantry and Retaliator removing the Gun Carriage on the right flank. The Archon advances on the left flank and kills a few too many Rifle Corps. Gearhart also uses his Vitriloic Ingression Catapult on the Gun Carriage, so it can't advance (actually he keeps on doing this for the whole game). Vlad pays back by having the Gun Carriage and Rifle Corps on the left flank kill the Archon back. On the right flank a Marauder, in combination with the Rifle Corps and Field Gun take out the Retaliator. The other Marauders move forward to bring them within charge range (under feat) of the Vulcan. Each player score a flag.

The third round sees the Infantry clear out most of the Rifle Corps on the right flank. The Vulcan moves forward and finish off a Marauder. On the right flank, the Rocketmen fly forward and remove the last of the Rifle Corps. Vlad is slightly annoyed by the progress, or rather lack of. He fills up the Marauders, but keeps his feat. The remaining shooting on the right flank and a Marauder kills the Vulcan. The last Marauder charges forward and puts itself with in easy charge range of Gearhart himself - and Vlad's feat is still unused. So, Gearhart is in serious trouble. The Adjunct sprays some infantry of the board, and Joe moves to score. On the left flank the carriage and a Kapitan kill half the Rocketmen. They are quite difficult to get rid of. Scenario score is now 4-2 in Gearhart favour.

Fourth round. Gearhart needs to be creative or have a date with a fully loaded Marauder under feat. Unfortunately, he does. He moves the Rocketmen to contest Joe's flag. Some solo to score his flag whilst contesting the zone, and Gearhart moves into the right zone... and here we go, a scenario score of 7-2. The picture below shows the terrible situation.

End of game

This was going pretty well. I really managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! It is the details that makes you loose. If I had been thinking I would have placed the Marauder a fraction of an inch to the right with a toe in the zone (see top circle in the picture above). But, I (once again) got greedy and wanted to kill two Mechaniks instead of just one. Also, why would Joe stand next to a flag, and not have a foot in the zone? That was just sloppy. So, if I haven't be greedy and watching positioning, and I would have won.

The End

It was a fantastic tournament. I really like team-tournament. Nice opponents and team.

I went 1-4 in this tournament. It should probably have been 3-2 or even 4-1. It turns out that I need to concentrate more. The first game was fine. Not any huge mistakes. In the second game, against Skorne I got carried away when I though I had won. The third game agains Mercenaries, was 50/50. I could probably have won if I had been more cleaver in my last turn. Infernals was lost before I began. Finally, the last game was again an example of greed.

So, in sum: 1) Don't be greedy; 2) Think positioning; 3) Watch scenario.

Wave goodbye Vlad

This was the end of Vlad and his fantastic Winter Guard Kommand. He almost went out with style. I really enjoy playing this list. It has almost everything it needs. It clearly needs a good second list for tournaments, but I can handle a surprisingly large array of opponents.

I will write-up my experiences with Winter Guard Kommand over a year and a half shortly. Until then:

For the Motherland!