The pointy eared xenophobes are on the move again. Since the Infernals have been kicked out of Khador, the Retribution are attempting to get rid of the few remaining humans with magic. Luckily, Vlad1 is back with his relentless Winter Guards. They have been affected by the quality of life update and are now ready to once again defend the Motherland's borders. The battle is fierce, However, Vlad is a bit rusty and has to face defeat against Kaelyssa and her Defenders of Ios.
It has been a very long time since I have played the double Gun Carriage Winter Guard Kommand list under Vlad 1. I actually thought that I had retired it (see here for Vlad's last stand). However, with the recent quality of life update, Vlad is back. The list has been brushed up and update (see here for a summary). So who better to try the new version of the list on that the first opponent I encounter. Kaelyssa and the pointy ears. The two lists are as follows:
| Khador [Theme] Winter Guard Kommand [Vladimir 1] Vladimir Tzepesci, the Dark Prince [+28] - Marauder [11] - Marauder [11] - Marauder [11] - War Dog [2] Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich [0(3)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Winter Guard Artillery Kapitan [0(3)] Battle Mechaniks (min) [2] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [0(3)] Winter Guard Field Gun Crew [3] Winter Guard Mortar Crew [3] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7] - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Rifle Corps (min) [7] - Winter Guard Rocketeer (3) [6] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17] Winter Guard Gun Carriage [17] | Retribution [Theme] Defenders of Ios [Kaelyssa 1] Kaelyssa, the Night's Whisper [+29] - Aeternae [16] - Aeternae [16] Aelyth Vyr, Blade of Nyssor [0(5)] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Arcanist Mechanik [2] Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios [6] Ghost Sniper [0(3)] Ghost Sniper [0(3)] Lanyssa Ryssyl, Nyss Sorceress [3] Lys Healer [2] Priest of Nyssor [0(4)] House Vyre Electromancers [5] House Vyre Electromancers [5] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] Ryssovass Defenders (max) [15] Arcantrik Force Generator [17] |
Initial Thoughts
I'm assuming that the update also has been good to Retribution. However, there is no way I can be bothered to know all the details; and it doesn't really matter. What matters is what they can do now. It is Kaelyssa who is facing Vlad and she is doing it in Defenders of Ion.
The theme gives House Vyre Electomancers and solos Reposition [3"] (also Stormfall Archers, which is not relevant her), and Kaelyssa can place a wall template anywhere within 20" of her rear table end. I guess that is ok. Even though reposition on shooting models always is a pain.
Kaelyssa is a support caster who can shoot and packs a dangerous assassin potential. For this matchup, in particular she has a quite annoying feat. It gives Stealth to all friendly Faction models within 14" of her. Also, models within 14" of her can't be charged or slam power attacked (luckily, a Marauder can still slam stuff around). She is a Focus 7 'caster but have ways of getting more (see below).
She likes to shoot a lot with her nice magical ROF 3 gun. She has True Sight, can steal a focus when hitting and get a power token if she destroys a model. As a bonus she can choose +4 range, dispel or make warjacks stationary. To add insult to injury, she can also cast Phantom Hunter to ignore cover, concealment and stealth (again). All in all, getting within 14" or even worse 10" of her results in all sorts of annoying difficulties.
In addition to phantom hunter, she brings four other spells to the table: Backlash, which she can cast on a Warjack. When the 'jack is damaged, Vlad suffers one point of damage; Banishing Ward for removing upkeeps from her own models (this does noting in this matchup); Blur, which adds 3 to DEF of a unit or model. This is handy against Vlad's shooters; and Refuge, which allows a friendly model to make a full advance at the end of its activation, if it has hit something.
All in all, Kaelyssa has a pretty good assassin potential against Vlad. His Wind Wall does nothing against her, Backlash it actually more efficient when 'jacks have a high armour, and she can shoot a lot. So Vlad has to be on his toes.
Kaelyssa brings two identical 'jacks. They are new and I have never seen them before. The Aeternaes are heavies with DEF 12, ARM 19 and 30 boxes. Being Vyre 'jacks, they don't have forcefields. They do, however have a pretty hefty gun. Range 14", magical POW 8 — but Armor Piercing. That kind of shooting combined with Kaelyssa's Refuge could be really annoying. They also pack two swords: a P+S 17, reach 2"; and a P+S 15, also reach 2" with beat back. Two Aeternaes will, on the average trivially remove a Marauder. One can also do it, if it has been doing some shooting first.
The 'jacks are obviously escorted by two Arcanist Mechaniks — the best mechanics in the game. They do the three things we all wish all mechanics did: Repair [d6], Empower (remove disruption and give one focus), and Concentrate Power that add two to the melee power of a 'jack. This brings the Aeternaes to P+S 19 and 17, and into Khador 'jack killing territory. Arcanist Mechaniks should be on the receiving end of some shooting as fast as possible.
Another big thing on the battle field is the Battle Engine (or as they are known in Vlad's army: Marauder Munch — or M&Ms, if you prefer), Arcantrik Force Generator. First of all, it can't be charged due to Polarity Field, which is worth remembering when doing M&M. Secondly, it is difficult to shoot of the table due to Carapace, which brings it to ARM 22 against shooting. Finally, if an Aeternae is within 2" it gets +2 range and +2 on attack roll; bringing an Aeternae to RAT 8 at range 16". This is of course not all, the M&M can also shoot on its own. It has a ROF 2, range 14", POW 14 cannon that can either be an AOE 4, leaving rough terrain like our Gun Carriages; or automatically boost the damage roll; or finally, slam small and medium bases d3".
On the unit side, there are two different types: two units of Ryssovass Defenders and two units of House Vyre Electromancers. The former are basically reach 2" P+S 10 weapon masters. It is in itself not terrible impressive. However, they do have Precision Strike, allowing them to dictated which column to damage on a 'jack. They also do Defensive Line giving them DEF 14 in melee and making them immune to knockdown. They are also girded, which makes them selves and anybody B2B immune to blast. Finally, thanks to Alyth Vyr (see below) they get Dying Breath, which allows them one attack as they are destroyed.
The two last abilities makes them fantastic jammers agains Vlad. There is no blasting them with the Mortar, the Rocketeers or the Gun Carriages. Also, they can't be knocked down by the Field Guns, Marauders or Gun Carriages. They are kind of annoying.
The Electromancers are really annoying. They can shoot 10" (threatening 16") and thanks to Reposition [3"] from the Theme, they can also get out of trouble again. They damage both infantry, thanks to Lightning Generator (basically Electroleap to d3 models) and 'jacks thanks to Energy Leak that lowers the focus limit by 1 — cumulative. All of this is just shooting. They can hit with a melee weapon as well giving one point of cortex damage.
The remaining seven models are solo galore. Eyriss1 is there, Lanyssa as well, not to mention two Ghost Snipers, a Lys Healer, a Priest of Nyssor, and finally Alyth Vyr.
Eyriss1 is an oldie but goodie. She can threaten 19" with her super crossbow that either gives Disruption and the loss of all focus, Deadly Shot giving 3 points of damage and remove tough, or Phantom Seeker (see Kaelyssa). She will typically move forward, disrupt a Warjack and then Reposition [3"] (thanks to the Theme) out of harms way and hide in her stealth. She really needs to go.
Lanyssa, is typically there to throw Hunter's Mark on something. This will allow Kaelyssa's models to move an additional 2" when charging something hit by it. I think she might be using Winter Storm as well here, which removes Pathfinder within 9" of her. She has Prowl and also Reposition [3"].
Alyth Vyr is new to me. He is a Ryssovass solo, which is probably why he gives the Defenders Dying Breath and are Veteran Leader for them (+1 to attack rolls within 9" of him) — the latter also to Lanyssa and the Priest, as they are also Nyss. I think these two things are his primary roles. Beside these things he is just a slightly better Defender.
The Ghost Snipers are what it says on the package. They can shoot 14" has Marksman (choose column), Deadly Shot (3 points of damage), and Swift Hunter (Reposition 2" when destroying a model, which is actually 3" due to the theme).
Finally, the Priest of Nyssor is probably there to hand out Blessing of the Winter Father, which gives all Nyss +1 to attack rolls within 9". He can also remove Pathfinder like Lanyssa and obviously has Stealth (due to Prowl and Snow-Weathered).
This is going to be interesting. On paper, it should be no trouble killing most of this. However, hitting it is difficult due to Stealth and highish DEF. Also, Kaelyssa has also sorts of ways to make the Marauders into somewhat ineffective lumps of metal through Disruption and taking our specific columns at range. Luckily, she hasn't got any fancy way of dealing with the Gun Carriages, except good old fashion shooting and hacking. I think this calls for aggressive Gun Carriage playing and getting the Marauders into a position to assassinate Kaelyssa under Vlad's feat.
Deployment
We are playing the 2021 Steamroller Scenario Bunkers. We roll off and Kaelyssa wins. She wants to go first. Vlad picks a side of the board thinking he would like to hide behind the forest on the left flank and the house on the right flank (see picture below). In hindsight, this was probably a bad choice (more on this later). We both go for the Pathfinder objective, which we later discover seem to have disappeared as an option. Never mind, we both made the same error.
It is worth mentioning that Kaelyssa had trouble finding the right models. So, basically not many of the Retribution models are what they appear. Here is a list:
| Army model | Phycial model |
| Kaelyssa1 | Kaelyssa1 |
| Aeternae | Some other Retribution 'jacks |
| Alyth | First Mate Hawk |
| Archanist Mechanik | Tactical Archanist Corps |
| Eiryss1 | Eyriss1 |
| Ghost Sniper | Ghost Sniper |
| Lanyssa | Lady Aiyana |
| Lys Healer | Lys Healer |
| Priest | Protectorate choir boy |
| Electromancers | Electromancers |
| Defenders | Dawnguard Sentinels |
| Arcantick Force Generator | Dawnguard Trident |
Anyway, Kaelyssa deploys in the middle along with Eiryss1, Alyth, Lanyssa and the Priest. All base to base with Alyth to avoid blast damage. A unit of Defenders go on each flank with a Ghost Sniper. The left flank also has the Lys Healer and the M&M. Electormancers deploy behind both Defender units.
 |
| End of Deployment |
Vlad deploys more or less in the standard setup. A Gun Carriage, a Field Gun, a Kapitan and a unit of Rifle Corps on each flank. Everything else in the middle. The picture above depicts the end of the Deployment
Round 1
Round 1. The exiting round of moving forward. Having possibilities of drifting AOEs, something might actually happen.
 |
| End of turn 1 |
Kaelyssa basically just moves everything forward. She is cautious as she fears Khador shooting. She casts Blur on the Defenders to the right, bringing them to ridiculous DEF. She also casts Refuge on one of the 'jacks. I think that pretty much sums up the turn. The picture above shows the end of the first turn.
 |
| End of round 1 |
Vlad is a bit worried about being shot to death. So his primary goal is to bring a much cannon fodder —I mean Winter Guards— into range of Sacrificial Pawn. Also, both armies' guns have approximately the same range. The Mortar has the longest. However, one of the enemy 'jacks can get to range 16". So, it is basically just a matter of getting forward and into range.
The two Gun Carriages move forward and shoots at something out of range. This is fine, as it is only to put down rough terrain. The elves haven't got any Pathfinder to speak of. So this will slow them down. Everybody else moves forward. Vlad cast Might of Kings on himself since Wind Wall won't help. Joe says tough to the Field Gun on the left as it can be shot by the Force Generator.
That is basically it. The picture above depicts the end of round 1.
Round 2
The second round is where something is going to hit somebody's fan. One thing is for sure, guns will roar (or crackle in the case of Retribution).
 |
| End of turn 1 |
Kaelyssa upkeeps her spells. On the left flank, the Defenders and Electromancers spread out, and stay back fearing the Motherland's guns. The Force Generator shoots at the Field Gun as predicted. Unfortunately, the three guys fail all tough rolls and are removed
On the right flank, one of the Aeternaes in cooperation with a Mechanik take out the other Field Gun. Some combination of Eiryss and Kaelyssa manage to disrupt the rightmost Marauder. The Defenders play the game of how many models can we fit into rouble — all of them.
All in all, no so bad. Even though loosing both Field Guns so early is bad. The picture above depicts the end of Kaelyssa's turn.
 |
| End of round 2 |
So, we can either go for slow grinding or rely on Khador fast 'jacks. The rightmost Marauder has been disrupted, which is really annoying. If it hadn't, Kaelyssa would be dead by now. There is less than 14" between that Marauder and her. Nevertheless, there is a chance of Combo Smithing her into the objective, which has a reasonable chance of killing her.
Vlad allocates to the left most Marauder. He the moves the middle Marauder in front of the house on the right flank to make room for him and to be ready for a potential second wave. The Marauder doing the assassin run would benefit from being under Signs & Portents. Vlad moves in front of the Objective, casts Boundless Charge on the disrupted Marauder, Sings and Portents and feat. He is now naked.
The disrupted Marauder can now charge for free and move 13". It does and arrives next to Kaelyssa. She has DEF 16. The Maruader has MAT 7 under Signs & Portents. It should have a 64.4 % chance of hitting. She has ARM 14 and camping five I think. So she is basically ARM 19 and 16 boxes. A Marauder doing Combo Smite and slamming her into an objective should do 5d6+20 points (drop the lowest) of damage against her, for an average of 36 points of damage. One more than what she has all in all. The odd are in Vlad's favour (actually not, it just appears so).
The Marauder swings its two pistons to hit, having a 64.4 % chance of hitting. The dice are: 1, 2, 4. So 6. Hitting DEF 13. If I only could have boosted. What I wouldn't give for a Greylord Forge Seer. This Marauder will be reassigned to mining duties at the first possible opportunity.
OK, change of plans. The only way is forward. The Gun Carriage on the right moves forward and shoots at one of the Defenders. It is clear that the odds of hitting is very low. But, the main purpose is to slow them down with rough terrain. The Winter Guard on the Gun Carriage almost takes out the Ghost Sniper.
The Gun Carriage on the left does more or less the same. It moves up and tries to drift an AOE onto the Priest and almost kills him. The other AOE drifts way off. The Rifle Corps shoot at the Defenders and kill a few. Finally, the remaining Marauder tramples through to woods and into a very surprised Aeternae. It puts some damage onto it. But not enough to make it impossible to repair in the following round.
That is more or less it. A failed assassin run. To be fair, it only had a 35% chance of killing her. But the stories that could have be told around the camp fire if the Marauder had succeeded. Vlad is probably going to loose the two Marauders in the front and perhaps a Gun Carriage in the next round. But all in all, Vlad is still in the game. The scenario score is 1-0 in Vlad's favour.
Round 3
Kaelyssa is spooked, but more importantly angry. So, she'll probably take it out on the citizens of Khador who are just innocent bystanders.
 |
| End of turn 1 |
Kaelyssa upkeeps her two spells and allocates a few to the two 'jacks. On the left flank the Force Generator shots at the Gun Carriage and does some damage. Getting rid of the Gun Carriage requires the Defenders to engage. Luckily they are hindered by a lake and a lack of Pathfinder. Nevertheless, enough Defenders manage to get to the Gun Carriage and they take it out. The last Defender takes out the last box in his last attack. So, it was a close run.
On the right flank, the second unit of Defenders tries to do the same. Rough terrain is our friend. Not enough make it to the Gun Carriage and it survives. The last Marauder takes a few hit. But nothing serious. The Electromancer on both flanks kills quite a few Winter Guards and the Mortar Crew. The rightmost 'jack moves up and kills the assassin Marauder. Finally, the last 'jack takes a bit out the leftmost Marauder. But still nothing serious.
All the shooting ladies make sure that the front Marauder is disrupted. Kaelyssa moves backwards and hides in a cloud. Finally, the Lys Healer on the extreme left flank runs to the flag to score. The picture above shows the end of Kaelyssa's revenge. Also know as turn 1, round 3. Scenario score is now 2-2.
 |
| End of round 3 |
There is still hope. The front Marauder is disrupted but might be able to sneak around the opposing 'jack and slam it over Kaelyssa. This requires that the rightmost Marauder can take out the rightmost 'jack. Hey ho, here we go.
Vlad fills up the rightmost Marauder, moves a bit to the right to get away from the Defenders on the letf flank. He then casts Signs & Portents.
The Gun Carriage would like to soften up the Aeternae and impacts all the Defenders surrounding it before wanting to shoot the 'jack. It takes out most of them. Unfortunately, Dying Breath results in the Defendes killing it whilst dying. Annoying and unnecessary, if you ask me.
The rightmost Marauder tramples over the Defenders in front of it and starts hammering the Aeternae in front of it. It rolls almost as bad as the assassin Marauder. So, not a lot of fun here. The last Marauder still goes for a slide to the left to slam the Aeternae. Yet, a pattern is emerging. MAT 7 under Signs & Portents can apparently not hit DEF 12. The Mechaniks moves in behind the two Marauders; just in case.
On the left flank, Joe starts by telling the story of what can be done For the Motherland to the Rifle Corps. It is very important that they can kill the Lys Healer hugging the flag. They start shooting and easily kills the Lys Healer, a Defender and one of the Electromancers.
That is it. Not impressive and I think Vlad is in trouble. The picture above depicts the end of round 3. Scenario score is now 3-3.
Round 4
This is probably where it ends. Kaelyssa is clearly in the lead. She has so much more of her army left than Vlad. Let's see where it ends.
 |
| End of turn 1, round 4. End of game |
On the left flank, the Force Generator shoots at the remaining Winter Guards and kills at least one. The Defenders charge and take out the remaining. One also runs to contest Vlad's zone. The Priest runs to the flag to score.
On the right flank, the remaining Defenders charge a Marauder and some Mechaniks. Together with the two Aeternaes both Marauders are killed. The Electromancers move forward and kill more Mechaniks and some Winter Guards. The Ghost Sniper runs to the flag to score.
That is basically it. Vlad is done for. He is left with very few models and can't reach Kaelyssa. So, he concedes. The battle ends with a scenario score of 6-3 in Kaelyssa's favour. The picture above shows the end of the battle.
Final thoughts
It was actually a good battle. Vlad and his Winter Guards still have game. I think I did a tactical error when I chose the side. I should not have feared the Retribution shooting. The house did really hinder the Gun Carriage on the right flank.
Perhaps I should have resisted the assassin run in round 2. Then again, It would have been so cool. A 35% chance for a kill is probably too low to be pursued. Nevertheless, there was quite a few bad rolls from the Marauders. But, one should plan for bad dice rolls.
Finally, I'm not sure what the Mechaniks are doing. Perhaps I should exchange them for something else. That would require a more through exchange as they are only two points. So, I'll need to think about it.
At the end of day, it was fun. I'm pretty sure that Vlad is back.
Until next time.
For the Motherland!
No comments:
Post a Comment