Federico's List: The Cannons of the True Law
Type: Skirmish (1 caster, 50pts)
Points: 50
Grand Scrutator Severius (*6pts)
* Blessing of Vengeance (7pts)
* Reckoner (8pts)
* Vanquisher (8pts)
* Hierophant (2pts)
Choir of Menoth (Leader and 3 Grunts) (2pts)
Daughters of the Flame (Leader and 5 Grunts) (5pts)
Exemplar Bastions (Leader and 4 Grunts) (8pts)
Holy Zealots (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Holy Zealot Monolith Bearer (2pts)
Reclaimer (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
The Covenant of Menoth (2pts)
Vassal of Menoth (2pts)
This is a list that I've fought before, and it's pretty nasty. With access to Severius' Eye of Menoth, every model would benefit from +1 to attack and damage. Now this may not seem like much but when the Choir boys sing +2 to attack and damage things get rough when you have POW14 AOE4 weaponry flying around. The Daughters benefit greatly from Protection of Menoth taking their high defense to a crazy 17! This means my IFP would need to roll 11's on their attacks to hit them. The Holy Zealots had the Monolith Bearer who's Greater Destiny Ability would allow them to be impervious from harm from non-magical sources and their prayers would make them non-targetable with magic attacks. The Vassal would allow his jacks to fire twice or move out the way of enemy attacks and the Covenant would make them immune to knock down and stationary. The Reclaimer is there to take the souls of the fallen and power up the jacks by up to three focus for each soul spent. The Hierophant would decrease the cost of a spell by one, which is amazing with Severius' Focus of 8 and would increase the range of non-channelled spells by 2". The Bastions are Reach weapon wielding Weaponmasters with the ability to divide damage amongst themselves and so they would play the role of charge screen and anti-jack. Now we come to the warjacks. The Reckoner is an amazing warjack that has a fucking huge cricket bat which has Reach and a gun that can inflict massive damage and lowers the defence of the target. It's best ability is Assault, which allows it to fire it's massive cannon and then charge forward and inflict massive damage on the target. The Vanquisher is another jack armed with a huge gun but the Vanquisher's gun sets people on Fire. Yes, that's right if the gun don't kill infantry, the fire most certainly will. Also it's got a bommy knocker which it can swing to kill off infantry that get too close in it's front arc. With the Vassal, that can be another gunshot and so you can set loads of models on fire in one turn. What a bastard. And finally we come to Rhupert, my arch-nemesis. I fucking hate Rhupert, he's thwarted my forces by allowing Federico to either, give Pathfinder to a unit, give Tough and Fearless to a unit or give +1 Defence and Terror to a unit. He's like the ultimate Swiss Army knife for units and I'd need to kill his hobo ass quick. In all, Federico's list has more synergy than George Lucas' business plan. Like the cogs in a wheel, it all slots together to make an awesome army that fights irrespective of it's opponents faction. Fucking amazing.
My List: Attitude Adjuster
Type: Skirmish (1 caster, 50pts)
Points: 50
Supreme Kommandant Irusk (*5pts)
* Devastator (9pts)
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen (Alexia and 9 Risen Grunts) (5pts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood (5pts)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Iron Fang Pikemen Officer & Standard (2pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Winter Guard Infantry (Leader and 9 Grunts) (6pts)
* Winter Guard Infantry Officer & Standard (2pts)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt) (3pts)
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich (2pts)
I'd brought the list I was supposed to bring last week against Dancingmonkey, this time remembering to pack Alexia's models. This list is my archetypal Supreme Kommandant Irusk list rammed full of models that can deal with multiple threats. Terrence the Devastator was back for Bulldozing things out the way and generally being a pain. The Great Bears would be on bodyguard duty for Irusk. Iron Fangs with the Unit Attachment would play the role of fast response and threat. The Winter Guard would mainly play an anti-infantry role thanks to their sprays and Kovnik Joe's Speeches. The Kayazy Assassins were added to tarpit other infantry and to mash up jacks under Battle Lust. Alexia was added due to the sheer volume of models I'd placed on the field and so she'd be creating more Risen. And finally we come to the Mortars. I fucking love the Mortars, under Fire For Effect they go from moderately useful anti-infantry to down right disgusting anti-most-models, their main use would be using the Risen and Devastator as fire beacons and trying to kill off lots of models really fast and getting shots at back field targets. Irusk had all the tools to reshape the battlefield as he saw fit so the only units that had the ability to charge over obstacles are the Iron Fangs and the Great Bears. My two anti-jack units.
Battlefield: Today, the battlefield was set up by none other than the handsome A_Bomb! after giving the battlefield a story (Irusk's in Llael to quell Protectorate fuelled uprisings, they meet on the battlefield, Severius says "You may command men but I command the Word of Menoth!" and a fight breaks out) he layed out the battlefield to be impartial to both sides. There was a large wood on the centre of the table, a hill in one corner of the field, another wood infront of a deployment zone, some walls/hedges and the ruins of a church or something that got bombed by Khadoran Mortars. My forces are in red and Fede's forces are in white. These pictures took 17 hours in MSPaint to do so please excuse my lack of a key or any labels. Fede's deployment zone will be north for the purposes of orientation.
Federico's Deployment: After I won the roll off, I decided to give Fede the ability to deploy his army first. In hindsight, this was a bad move as his forces were able to deploy in safety behind the cover of the forest in the middle of the table, and I would have to deal with trying to remove them once they'd already moved half way up the field. He began by deploying the Menoth Wall of Death™ on the centre east. This deployment was with the Blessing of Vengance on the west flank, Vanquisher in the centre and the Reckoner on the east. Interspersed among the jacks were the the Bastions with their Medium bases blocking Line of Sight to the rest of his army. It was a dense wall and it looked fucking scary.
My Deployment: After Fede's excellent deployment, I proceeded to completely fucked mine. Thinking that I'd be in an excellent position to fire Mortars at the approaching forces I placed both my Mortars on the edge of the forest. In hindsight, I would have been fine placing my Mortars in the fucking forest giving them a far better field of fire but I'd missed my chance. The majority of my army was spread out along my deployment line with Kayazy Assassins on my east flank squished between Alexia's Risen and the forest. My Iron Fangs were deployed in the Forest and the Great Bears were deployed with Irusk on my centre. I placed Terrence beside the Mortars to rush up the field. The Winter Guard were placed on my west flank with Kovnik Joe.
Fede's Advance Deploy: Fede's only unit with Advanced Deployment was the Daughters of the Flame. They were deployed on his west flank with them obscured from my Mortars by the Forest.
My Advance Deploy: I didn't have any.
Federico's First Turn: Severius allocated one focus to each jack and kept five focus to himself. The jacks and the Bastions ran up the field with the Choir Boys singing the Hymn of Safe Passage making the jacks untargetable with non-magical ranged attacks.The unit of Holy Zealots also ran taking them 12" up the board and putting enough pressure on for next turn. Rhupert gave the Daughters Pathfinder and moved up the Board. Severius then activated and gave the Daughters Defender's Ward and moved up after casting Eye of Menoth. The Daughters then ran through the forest at my exposed west flank. They were nicely spaced out so my Mortars wouldn't kill them all if the shell landed on the heads.
My First Turn: Shit was looking bad. I had the Holy Zealots rushing up the board threatening to go invincible at my guys and the Daughters threatening to just ignore my Winterguard and aim to kill off Irusk. The Daughters were DEF 19 in the forest so I needed to come forward but not too far otherwise they would charge/run into the Winterguard and be nigh impossible to shift. The Winterguard could boost their attacks but I'd need 12's to hit on three dice if I was using their sprays. Not very good odds. So I allocated one focus to the Devastator and ran with it forward. The Winterguard advanced with Bob and Weave giving them an improved defence and Kovnik Joe used Courage of our Forefathers to give the Winterguard Tough and Fearless. On my east flank, I decided to advance my Risen cautiously as the Zealots firebombs would easily make short work out of them. Then the Kayazy Assassins did more of the same as the Fire Bombs would ruin their shit too. I activated Irusk, cast Fire For Effect on my east most Mortar and used Artifice of Deviation on the patch of Forest that was to his east and moved south. The Great Bears using Martial Discipline ran to cover Irusk while the Iron Fangs used the Artifice of Deviation to move up through the Forest in Shield Wall. My non-Fire For Effect Mortar fired at the Daughters, deviated and ended up killing two Daughters and a Zealot.The rest of the Zealots in turn gained +4 ARM from this fiasco. My Fire For Effect Mortar aimed at the Monolith Bearer, it was out of range but I was hoping for a good deviation. The direction rolled was two and the shell landed on the Monolith Bearer. His ARM was 16 thanks to the earlier fiasco with the other Mortar so I was at -8 to the roll with three dice. Luckily Menoth smiled on me and I rolled a over 13, meaning that the dangerous bastard was dead. I was so fucking lucky with that roll, because next turn I would have had invincible zealots shoving their balls in my face. Not a good place to be.
Federico's Second Turn: Severius doled out focus to his jacks and upkept Eye of Menoth. The Holy Zealots ran forward in a dispersed formation, intent on throwing their goddamn Fire Bombs at my Kayazy and Iron Fangs. The Vanquisher ran forwards and gained Safe Passage. The Reckoner did the same. Rhupert gave the Bastions Pathfinder and moved up the field. The Bastions ran up to create the Menoth Wall of Death™ with the Blessing Of Vengance moving into the Forest. Much to my consternation the Daughters then ran out of the Forest away from my carefully planned ambush and in behind the jacks. The Vassal activated and gave the Vanquisher a free shot with it's Flame Belcher at the Iron Fangs. I was shitting myself because if the shot deviated towards them, the blast damage would be low but the actual Fire would roast the mighty warriors. Fede then proceeded to roll a one, and before you could say "Toasty!" four of my Iron Fangs were on fire and so was the Devastator. With the whole Menoth army breathing down my neck I needed to do something fast otherwise my Iron Fangs and Kayazy Assassins would be dead.
My Turn Two: Due to some sort of sign from Menoth, the fires on the backs of three of my Iron Fangs went out on the next turn. I was fucking lucky, as the Fire couldn't actually hurt the Devastator and the Iron Fang that did die was a cunt so he wouldn't be missed. I started my turn by allocating one focus to the Devastator and upkeeping Fire For Effect. The Devastator then activated and ran inbetween the Holy Zealots taking their Free Strikes on it's ARM 25 hide. The Fire For Effect Mortar fired at the Devastator landing the round on his head and killing four surrounding Zealots. Though the damage roll was boosted at POW 16 the dice came up low and the Devastator escaped unscathed. Irusk then activated and recast Fire For Effect on the second Mortar and moved north east taking a shot at a Zealot. The second Mortar activated and fired a high looping round over the Menoth Wall of Death™ onto a Choir member's head. The poor bastard evaporated and the resulting explosion killed off another choir member, two Daughters and injured the Covenant. The Winterguard moved up using Bob and Weave and took Combined Ranged Attack shots at the Zealots closest to them while under Tough from Kovnik Joe. The Great Bears ran infront of Irusk and the Kayazy Assassins ordered a charge at the remaining Zealots. As two were behind a wall, the rest of the unit ran. The Kayazy stabbed the Zealots and then Alexia activated and had the Risen run forward and tie up the Menoth Wall of Death™.
Federico Third Turn: Severius kept all his focus to himself and upkept Eye of Menoth. The Hierophant used Harmonious Exaltation to drop the cost of one of Severius's spells by one and then moved up. The Covenant advanced providing immunity to Knockdown to the army and then Severius activated. He used Ashes to Ashes on the Risen east of his Menoth Wall of Death™ using the ability to increase the range of non-channeled spells from the Hierophant. He then proceeded to roll a six for the number additional models hit and a group of Risen and two Kayazy died nearby. Then he moved south and recast the spell at a Bastion and freed his jacks from the idiotic undead. After that he used his feat Divine Might, making me unable to cast spells in his control area of 16". The Choir then activated and provided the jacks with +2 to hit and damage and the Reclaimer gave the Reckoner three focus. The Vanquisher moved forward and killed off some more of the Risen with it's Burning Star. The Reckoner activated and used it's Assault ability to fire at the Devastator but missed. Then it charged in with it's cricket bat and proceeded to smash a huge amount of boxes from the jack including it's right arm. Rhupert provided the Bastions with Pathfinder. The Bastions charged tagging the Devastator with even more damage and missed the Kayazy thanks to their Duellist ability. The Blessing of Vengance moved through the woods towards the Winterguard. The two remaining Zealots then moved up and killed a Risen each. The Vassal activated and gave the Reckoner Enliven allowing it to advance its speed if damaged by an attack.
My Third Turn: Alexia had four more Risen to put onto the field so she placed one of the behind the Reclaimer as the plucky undead would be unaffected by his Soul Storm ability. She dotted the rest of the Risen in between the Menoth lines on the east flank. Irusk was luckily out of Divine Might range so he'd still get his focus but if he moved north, he'd step into Severius' control area and be unable to cast spells. I upkept Fire for Effect on the Mortar and kept all of the rest of his focus to himself. The Mortar activated and fired a round at the Risen placed behind the Reclaimer and hit thanks to the Risen facing the wrong way and not being in combat. Needless to say, the Reclaimer died. The second Mortar fired but to little effect. Irusk activated and used his feat Desperate Ground giving my Khadoran models Pathfinder and the ability to see through forests and cloud effects. He cast Battle Lust on the Iron Fangs and Winterguard and then he moved up towards the Devastator while taking a shot at a Bastion to little effect. The Devastator activated Bulldozing next to a Bastion and used it's Rain of Death. The POW 18 blast evaporated the Bastion, killed some poorly placed Risen, a Zealot and did some damage to the Reckoner who then moved north using Enliven. The Kayazy Assassins activated and used their mini-feat Kill Stroke and received a charge order from the Underboss. They then charged/ran past the Bastions and in among the Choir and support elements of the Menite forces. One assassin ran into melee with Severius and another charged him putting some damage on the old man of Menoth. If Federico hadn't used Divine Might I'd have put Battle Lust on the Kayazy and Severius may have died (MAT 9/P+S 12 4d6 against DEF 14 and ARM 14), that feat had ruined my shit. Alexia charged the last Zealot but missed her attack and had to kill off her last Risen to get another attack and end his life. The Iron Fangs then charged (while using Defensive Formation) through the Devastator thanks to it being in Martial Disciple range and put some hurt on the Jacks and Bastions. Unfortunately, Federico seeing my plan to kill off his Bastion infront of the Blessing of Vengance decided instead take all the damage on the ones I'd charged on the east flank making me feel like a right knob. The Iron Fangs did some heavy damage to the warjacks but their Critical Knockdowns were ignored due to the continued presence of the Covenant of Menoth. Then afterwards the Iron Fangs snapped back together like Lego bricks and gained the Shield Wall order. Kovnik Joe provided the Winterguard with +3 STR from Bear's Strength and then aimed and shot the Bastion blocking the Winterguard charge route to the Blessing of Vengance. Unfortunately, the gunshot hit but caused no damage to the wall of flesh and steel. Winterguard charged the Blessing and that one fucking Bastion. One guy got a Halberd to the face from the Blessing's Defensive Strike and the other struck true but caused poor damage. The rest of the unit used Combined Melee attacks to chop up the remaining two Bastions but it was all for show after the lackluster performance of the rest of the unit. The Great Bears moved up to cover Irusk from any channelled spells and my turn ended.
Federico's Fourth Turn: Severius upkept Eye of Menoth and kept the rest of his Focus to himself. Severius activated and cast Ashes to Ashes on the Kayazy Assassin infront of himself with a boost. The attack hit but only a one was rolled for additional hits and killed off the other Assassin infront of him. Then he cast Defenders Ward on himself and moved to the north east. The Covenant of Menoth moved to cover him and make the army immune to Knockdown and Stationary. The Vanquisher killed some Iron Fangs with it's Blazing Star and the Reckoner smashed the head in of a Iron Fang within it's Reach. The remaining Choir members attacked the Kayazy Assassins but to no avail and Rhupert also tried his luck but failed (Yeah, that's right. Fuck you Rhupert!). The Blessing of Vengeance activated and stabbed the remaining Winterguard.
My Fourth Turn: Seeing my chance for a kill, I kept all of Irusk's focus to himself. I checked Irusk's control area out to 9" and then I activated Alexia moving her up to that distance. Then Irusk charged her, killing her and then putting Battle Lust on the Kayazy Assassins and placing an Artifice of Deviation in front Severius. The Assassins then activated and charged through the intervening models thanks to the Artifice and two got into melee with him. The first attack missed due to me rolling a double one but the second one hit killing him. It was fucking close.
Post Game Thoughts: I'd just like to say that Federico is the best Menoth player I've ever played. He pulled some awesome tricks on me this game, my favorite being threatening with the Daughters and then pulling them back to safety. It completely fucked up my Winterguard for most of the game. The Bastions were the star players though, completely blocking charge lanes with their Reach, I've had to try deal with them getting in the way before and it's fucked my day completely in the past. I need to come up with a reliable way of dealing with them. The Vanquisher with a Vassal is an awesome combo just because of the ability to run and fire the Flame Belcher, or fire it twice in one turn. The Vassal is amazing for 2 points and I'd seriously consider taking two if I played Menoth. To be honest, I was really lucky killing the Monolith Bearer on the first turn, otherwise I think the game would have gone a whole lot worse.
My use of the Winterguard was terrible, deploying them on the flank meant they wouldn't be able to bring their low ranged guns to bear on targets and affect much of Federico's army. I should have deployed them centrally and had them advance infront of the Iron Fangs, then pull back to safety when the Iron Fangs charge through them. This is my second game using them and I should be more aggressive with them in the future. Alexia was great to use as her Risen were just getting in the way or providing Mortar targets. The Devastator was excellent but next time I'll use him supported by the Winterguard as well. The Great Bears were poorly used, I should have used them to make a bee line for the jacks instead of playing bodyguard all game. My main fear was the Blessing using Bushwack and channelling Immolations at Irusk. Next time I'll be more aggressive with them also.
The game was amazing, I really enjoyed it and hence this intense battle report. I'd recommend facing Federico if you haven't played against Menoth before. He knows his army so well, that we can talk just using the names of abilities. Thank you for reading and see you soon.
Entertaining as always, matey. Keep up the good work. Oh, and many thanks for the advice on my list.
ReplyDeleteNo problemo hombre! How did your game go? Did you kill the shit out them?
ReplyDelete