Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff (Sorscha3) vs. Xerxis, Fury of Halaak (Xerxis2)

It is not only Khardor who have gotten a quality of life update. It is clear that Skorne has as well. Xerxis, Fury of Halaak has mounted his favourite Rhino, gathered some elephants and a litter of kittens. For unknown reasons he has decided to bring the whole menageri across the desert and into Khador territory. Sorcha is dispatched along with her Man-o-Wars to send Xerxis back. It turns out that Khador steel is steadfast against claws and bites from Xerxis' pet shop. 

It has been ages since I have seen Skorne across the table; also before the pestilence. I have never seen the guy on a Rhino before, so this will be fun. I am so regretting not bringing Marauders. Yet, with the appearance of Death Archons in the Empress' service, it is time to review Sorscha3 and her trusted Man-o-Wars (some thoughts on an earlier version of Armored Korps under Sorcha3 can be found here). Sorscha has a new Armored Korps list that I haven't played before. The Skorne list is from memory and I'm not completely sure that it is correct. Nevertheless, here they are:

Skorne [Theme] Masters of War Xerxis, Fury of Halaak [+28] - Bronzeback Titan [16] - Tiberion [16] - Aptimus Marketh [0(4)] Makeda of House Balaash [4] - Basilisk Krea [7] Tyrant Rhadeim [8] Cataphract Arcuarii (max) [13] Paingiver Beast Handlers (max) [7] Praetorian Ferox (max) [17] Praetorian Ferox (max) [17] Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer [0(5)] Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer [0(5)]

Khador [Theme] Armored Korps Kommandant Sorscha Kratikoff [+28] - Devastator [14] - Devastator [14] - Greylord Adjunct [3] Bulkhead [0(5)] Death Archon [9] Greylord Forge Seer [4] Greylord Forge Seer [4] Man-O-War Kovnik [3] Man-O-War Kovnik [3] Man-O-War Strike Tanker [5] Man-O-War Suppression Tanker [0(6)] Man-O-War Suppression Tanker [0(6)] Battle Mechaniks (max) [4] - Battle Mechanik Officer [1] Kommandant Atanas Arconovich & Standard [5] Man-O-War Demolition Corps (max) [12] - Sergeant Dragos Dragadovich [4] Man-O-War Shocktroopers (max) [15] - Man-O-War Shocktrooper Officer [3]

Initial Thoughts

I have never faced Xerxis, Fury of Halaak before. He looks rather imposing on top of his pet Rhino. He is leading the Skorne troops in the Masters of War theme, which gives warrior models take down. So no tough for Khador. 

Xerxis himself is a battle engine, which already makes him immune to the primary trick in Sorscha's list: stationary by cold. He has the "standard" defensive stats of a battle engine (DEF 13, ARM 19 and 19 boxes). Thus, he is killable (even without Marauders). 

He brings a pretty hefty feat, Hand of the Ancients, which basically covers the entire board, and gives his models an extra die on attack and damage rolls. Contrary to our version, Signs and Portents, the model can choose any die to discard, not just the lowest. This is nice when fishing for critical effects. I am assuming that Xerxis will position his army for an alpha strike, feat, and then hit everything with everything. I just hope that Khador armour will hold against this. 

Xerxis also brings three spells to the table: Ignite, Rapport and Stranglehold. The fist one gives a unit +2 on melee damage and critical continuous fire.  Rapport allows the targeted warbeast to use Xerxis' MAT (8) and RAT (4) -I'm assuming the latter is irrelevant- and makes the warbeast controllable within 20". Finally, Stranglehold forces the damaged model to give up either movement or combat action. It is not a terrible set of spells. One of the elephants will have MAT 8, which really doesn't do a lot since Man-o-Wars are pretty easy to hit. The +2 damage to one of the units is of course annoying as Sorscha's list tries to survive on armour.

I have to admit I'm not completely sure that I remember the list correctly. So the rest of this is my best guess. 

The battlegroup consists of two elephants, a Bronzeback Titan (it might actually have been a Titan Gladiator) and Tiberion. The Bronzeback is a beat stick. It is ARM 19 (21, using its Animus Unyielding) and 34 boxes, two P+S 17 fists and a P+S 16 Tusks. They will most likely be P+S 19 and P+S 18 due to Paingivers, and if Xerxis is really cheeky he will also cast Ignite, making it effective P+S 21/20. In addition, it has Countercharge, Hyper-aggressive and can remove 1 fury from other Titans within 7" (in this case Tiberion).

Tiberion is another beat stick and it is bonded to Xerxis, giving it Overtake. ARM 21 (due to shield) and 32 boxes. Three attacks: Tusks P+S 15, Tetsubo P+S 18 and Shield P+S 14. Again, most likely P+S 17/20/16 due to Paingivers. Its Animus gives it Bulldoze.   

 

Makeda of House Balaash, who is a newcomer, is bringing a Basilisk Krea. She is, in classic Makeda style capable of doing quite a lot of damage on her own; in particular against infantry. She is a P+S 11 Weapon Master with Flashing Blades. However, Man-o-Wars are too heavily armoured to be concerned. She is brining a Krea, which I guess is there primarily to protect her against ranged attacks (+2 DEF and +2 ARM against ranged attacks within 3").

There are six units: two units of kittens (Praetorian Ferox), two units of Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer, a unit of Cataphract Arcuarii and a unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers. The latter has already been described under the elephants above.

 

The two units of kittens are potentially quite annoying. They are only two times P+S 12 (one unit probably P+S 14 from Ignite). However, they are quick (SPD 8), can jump 5" and at the end Reposition 3". They might even get an extra 2" if the Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer is nearby. If they jump or charge, they get an additional +2 to attack and damage roll. Also, they have Take Down from the theme. The kittens are lead by head-kitten-master Tyrant Rhadeim, who is a Dragoon on another kitten. Most interestingly for units, he gives them Dodge within 10". All of these kittens are going to run, dodge and jump around like crazy. The best defence against this is probably to make an impregnable brick where they can only scratch their claws on the outside. 

The shooting unit on the table is a unit of Cataphract Arcuarii. Their primary purpose is to drag units out of shield walls or out of safety. Luckily, the Shocktroopers are immune to push, thanks to their Unit Attachment. Yet another good argument for keeping a brick. Also their range is just 8". Whereas the Death Archon's Mortal Fear aura is 10". So the Shocktroopers are probably going to be ARM 25 against them.

Finally, there are two units of Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer. They are there to fix minor issues with warrior models. They have three Battle Plans that can give Pathfinder, +2 SPD og get knocked down models to stand up. It is probably the +2 SPD we will see most.

This is so not going to be a walk in the park (or in this case zoo?) for Sorcha. I do, however, think that with a solid brick, the Man-o-Wars are presenting too much ARM to break. The Shocktroopers are ARM 25 in Shield Wall, under Iron Flesh and if the attacker is within 10" on the Death Archon. Basically, it is only the elephants that can trivially remove Shocktroopers. So, the plan is simple: 1) move brick forward; 2) kill anything getting too close; 3) win. I like simple plans.

Deployment

We are playing the 2021 Steamroller scenario Invasion. I don't think this battle is going to be decided on scenario, so this is probably fine. We rolled off and Khador won. Sorscha is going first (Man-o-Wars should always go first). She picked the Fuel Cache objective, which gives a model Pathfinder. I forgot what Xerxis picked. 

Sorcha deployes in a massive brick. Shocktroopers in front, followed by the Demolition Corps and Kommandant Atanas Arconovich & Standard. The brick is flanked on either side by a Devastator and a Suppression Tanker. Everything else just tries to fit into the 7" deployment area. The picture below depicts the deployment after the Advanced Move.

End of Deployment

Xerxis deploys more or less symmetrically around himself in the middle. The outer flanks are occupied by the kittens. The two elephants are next to Xerxis on the right, and the Arcuarii on the left. Everything else fill up behind the front line.

Round 1

Round 1 - the exciting move everything forward round. 

End of turn 1

Sorcha simply sticks to the plan. The brick moves forward by having the Kovniks shout Desperate pace to the Shocktroopers as well as the Demolition Corps. Sorcha drops Iron Flesh on the Shocktroopers and Stoke the Fires on at least the Devastator to the right. She then cast Wind Rush on herself and gets behind the brick. The Shocktroopers can move forward a whooping 9" in Shield Wall! The Death Archon just get into the middle and does nothing more. Everybody else move forward to protect the brick's flanks. The picture above shows the battlefield after the first turn.

End of round 1

Not surprisingly, Xerxis moves his troops in a classic pincer movement. The kittens spread out on each flank, whilst the main force move forward in the middle. The picture above depicts the end of the first round. 

Round 2

There is a fair chance that something might happen in this round. Probably not initiated by Sorscha. But action is action. 

End of turn 1

Sorcha moves her brick forward. The Shocktroopers stay in Shield Wall with the Demolition Corps right behind them. The Death Archon tags along and uses the only corps token on Mortal Fear. This brings the Shocktroopers to an effective ARM 25 against most of the stuff that can attack them. Atanas give the Shoockies Unstoppable Fury (Retaliation Strike), since Tough doesn't really matter here.

Everybody else move forward. The Devastator on the right decides to go crazy and runs into the right most zone. In hindsight, this is probably not a good idea. 

That's it. Khador steel is ready to receive the Skorne pet shop. Sorscha is confident. Yet, you never know.  

End of round 2

Initially, the Arcuarii moves forward, trying to stay out of the 10" Death Archon bubble. They do get a few shots off, without a huge effect. It is quite a difference story with the Bronzeback. It charges into the Shocktrooper line (for PP-overhang reasons its back is turned to the frontline in the above picture). He manages to kill two Shockies! I love ARM 25. 

In my honest and as unbiased as possible opinion. ARM 25 is where Shocktroopers should be without paying the Death Archon tax (9 points). It feels right without feeling too over the top. It is easily fixable. They have a shield (they can do shield wall and have a shield cannon). Give them the shield rule so they would be ARM 19 before bells and whistles. Anyway, I digress. 

Having removed two of the Shocktroopers makes room for the kitten. They get the +2 SPD Battle Plan from the Tyrant. Then they move and jump and what not. On the right flank that costs Sorcha the first Forge Seer.  In the middle they take out a single Demolition Corps (giving them Vengeance). The left flank also suffers, as the second Forge Seer is removed along with Bulkhead. 

Finally, as predicted, the Devastator should not have strayed. Tiberion is quite capable of removing an ARM 23 'jack. Well, lesson learned. 

All in all, both Xerxis and Sorscha agreed that this turn was not as bloody as they both expected. I have to admit I forgot if Xerxis did feat this turn. Nevertheless, heavy armour was too heavy it seems. The picture above shows the end of the second round.  

Round 3

This is where it get's interesting. The Man-o-Wars, finally after all these years survived an alpha strike and can now strike back. 

End of turn 1

There is a lot of cleaning to be done after all the kittens have spread out behind the lines. Sorscha starts the cleaning from the bottom. Atanas and his standard does a press forward in opposite directions. The Standard takes out the kitten in the bottom left corner; whilst Atanas takes out the one in the bottom right corner. On his way to that kitten he also gives the Kovnik behind the wall Relentless Tide.

Having Relentless Charge enables the Kovnik to assist the Strike Tanker in removing one of the two remaining kittens. The plan was to take out both. But they have Tough that works. 

On the left flank, Vengeance helps cutting down on the feline pest (the move was of course taken to begin with). This, in combination with the Suppression Tanker and Kovnik cleaning up made room for charging possibilities. Before that, however, the Devastator bulldoze Rhadeim to the left and explodes on him. Unfortunately he survives. 

Now it is party time. Sorscha begins by freezing the Bronzeback using Winter's Wrath. Now the Demolition Corps can charge it (despite som difficulties as Atanas is quite far out to the right). Demolition Corps against stationary is fun (P+S 16, 4d6. That is 30 points of damage on the average). Thus, the elephant goes down. The remaining troops take out as many kittens as possible and try to position so that they block line of sight to Sorscha. The Death Archon uses one of its newly acquired corps tokes to put up Mortal Fear. 

The picture above depicts the result of the Man-o-War revenge.  

Almost end of round 3 and the game 

This is where the photographer forgot to take picture. He was simply too excited. So the picture above must also stand in for the remaining battle. 

Xerxis can easily see that this is not going in his direction. He needs a clever plan. Unfortunately, he does come up with one. By clever manoeuvring what is left on the right flank, he should be able to get Tiberion all they way to Sorscha. Despite her have two focus, there is no way she can survive elephant to face. I'm getting worried.

So, without further ado the arrow in the picture above shows the direction on Tiberion. Xerxis moves forward slightly to the right. This might be when he feats. 

The remaining cat removes some of the troops in the way; whilst Tiberion can bulldoze what is left; kill something (in this case the Battle Mechaniks Officer) and Overtake. What stands between Tiberion and Sorcha is two free strikes. One by a Demolition Corps and one by the Shocktrooper Officer. Both have Critical Freeze.

The Officer gets to take the first attack. He hits and does an insignificant amount of damage. 

Next up is the Demolition Corps grunt. He attacks and hits on double 4's. Tiberion is frozen in his path. No assassination of Sorscha. There will be medals when we return to camp.

After this, there really isn't any reason to play on. Tiberion is now, for all practical reasons, dead. There is nothing really left on the table to threaten Man-o-Wars. End of game. 

Final thoughts

ARM 25 rocks. This is exactly where Shocktroopers are suppose to be. They can now actually survive an attack. It is probably one of the few times in the last decade or so that Man-o-Wars actually get to strike back. I will still argue that this should happen without the 9 points payed for the Death Archon. 

In this game the Death Archon really didn't do anything else than radiating Mortal Fear. Perhaps a bit of normal threat. It is able to do a lot of harm on its own. Yet, Mortal Fear is the winner. 

The Devastator can finally go kaboom without opening up. This is a nice change in quality of life. Not too much and not too little. 

I think the brick was the sensible solution. Luckily, the opponent did not have any AOE weapons. That would really have ruined the brick. 

I got over excited with one of the Devastators. I was so keen on using the new version of Rain of Death that I basically gave it away on a silver plate. 

Finally, Sorcha must be better protected. She almost got killed by assassination. Although, I'm not quite sure how to pack her better. Perhaps she should just have move to the left earlier to get away from the elephants?

Besides that, there is not a lot to complain about. Victory to the Empress. 

Until next time. For the Motherland!