Yet Another America Hill

Yet Another America Hill
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

This week we discovered that the hills we had been fighting over were really the wrong hill. Luckily we finally found the right one this week.

Before I get started, I have to make a couple notes:

It’s been a while since this game was played, so I’m a little iffy on all the details. I’ll try and fill in as best I can, though.
This took place before Remix and we played throws the old way when they happened.

Here’s a copy-paste of the rules from the last hill fight:

To help encourage people to take the hill, we added Woldwompers. Woldwompers were independent models that could be activated by various warcasters or warlocks if they were in control of the hill. Woldwompers had the same stat line as a Woldwarden but with -1 SPD and -1 ARM. They also had a fury of two and could be forced by any controlling warcaster/warlock, and the fury would dissipate at the end of each player’s turn. Woldwompers had no animus, no chain attack, but maintained All Terrain, Elemental Construct, and Spell Strike.

At the end if each turn, the player with the most models on the hill gained 1 VP. This is turn, not round – we went this way to place more value on the hill.

At the end of a turn, if a player had their warcaster/warlock on the hill, they could activate one of the three Woldwompers immediately.

At the end of a turn, if a player had their wracaster/warlock on the hill and had or tied for the most models on the hill (units counted as 1 model), they could activate two of the three Woldwompers immediately.

Despite the steps we played the hill as “smooth” so it could be climbed freely. We didn’t want to overemphasize the steps too much.

= = = = =

Khador (Mark)

Irusk
Kovnik
Kodiak (on Kovnik) x2

This time Mark changed up his list just slightly, swapping out the Butcher for Irusk. After seeing how slow the Butcher was, he decided to try to rush the hill and use Inhospitable Ground to protect it this time around.

Everblight (Myself)

Thagrosh
Carnivean
Seraph
Shredder x3

With four opponents on the table, I decided to bring my hardiest warlock – Thagrosh. I hoped his Death Shroud would keep my beasts alive long enough to take control of the hill.

Protectorate (Phenominal_1)

Kreoss
Revenger x2
Choir
Exemplar Seneschal
Knights Exemplar
Wrack x2

P1 brought out Kreoss for this game, and decided to go with more infantry than jacks, specifically the hard-hitting Knights Exemplar. Those relic blades could hurt a lot, especially if they were auto-hitting after Kreoss’ feat.

Trollbloods (Aslain Kheog)

Horluk
Dire Troll Mauler x2
Fell Caller
Kreilstone Bearer

I’m not a fan of the big trolls – I was just glad that AK was wedged between the Protectorate and Cryx. 🙂

Cryx (Gary)

Deneghra
Deathripper x2
Nightwretch
Skarlock
Ogrun Bokur
Pistol Wraith
Mechanithralls x10

Gary brought a nice little force to America Hill – Denny and three arc nodes was pretty core, but the a Pistol Wraith, Bokur, and a unit of Mechanithralls to tie up his opponents looked pretty solid.

Turn 1

Khador
This time Mark decided to run his forces all out, and reached the hill first turn. Irusk walked so that he could put up Inhospitable Ground and everyone else hit the hill.

+1 VP Khador for most models on the hill

Everblight
I decided to risk not casting any spells this turn by just running Thagrosh up onto the hill to activate Woldwompers. He barely made it with Slipstream and running to get through Inhospitable Ground. A Shredder went Rabbid and joined him while the Seraph (who did the Slipstreaming) and the Carnivean move up to Thagrosh’s right. The final two Shredders trail behind. I ended the turn with Thagrosh still at 7 fury, one shredder at 2, and the Seraph at 1.

I activated the Woldwomper between Khador and I to throw the Kodiak off the hill, then I activated the one between the Protectorate at and I to try to Spell Strike the Choir Warpriest, but it was out of range.

+1 VP for the hill

Protectorate
Phenomenal_1 decided to split his forces and sent his Exemplar and his Seneschal up the left flank towards the Trollbloods. The Choir stepped back by the woods and the Revengers ran forward to get in the way of the Woldwomper. Kreoss moved up behind, putting Retribution on one Revenger and Protection of Menoth on the other.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Trollbloods
AK sent one Mauler and the Fell Caller towards the Exemplar line and moved the second Mauler towards the hill. Horluk advanced, dumping fury in the Kreilstone which also advanced and put up its protective aura.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Cryx
Gary’s mess of Cryx went to the hill quickly. The Mechanithtralls rushed toward Khador while one of the Bonejacks and Deneghra ran to the hill. The bokur and pistol wraith fell in behind the Mechanithralls while the Skarlock brought up the rear (after Ghost Walking Deneghra so she could run through models).

Since he tied me for most models on the hill, Gray picked the two Woldwompers near Khador. They each attacked the Khodiaks, taking out about a column apiece.

No Hill VPs.

Score

Khador: 1 (+1 Hill)
Everblight: 3 (+3 Hill)
Protectorate: 0
Trollbloods: 0
Cryx: 0

Turn 2

Khador
Although he had gotten stuck in, this is where Khador shined. The Kodiak nearest my side of the table stood up and grabbed the Woldwomper, tossing it away. The second tried to throw the second Woldwomper at Deneghra but deviation caused it to knock into his own base, knocking them both back down. That was a tough break or Mark and really hurt his plans. The Kovnik cut down a couple Mechanithralls, but there were plenty left on the table. Irusk moved up a bit, shot another Mechanithrall with his gun, and put up Inhospitable Ground again.

No Hill VPs.

Everblight
It was a gamble last turn, and sure enough my Seraph frenzied first thing, going after my Carnivean and laying down the Poison Tail. Luckily it only did about 3 points of damage, but worse was the fact I couldn’t do anything with the Seraph this turn. I spent the rest of my turn fortifying my claim on the hill. The Carnivean moved up next to Thagrosh and put its animus on itself. The two most forward Shredders moved up in front of and beside Thagrosh, turning to face the Protectorate lines. Thagrosh turned a bit and put the Carnivean’s animus on himself then cast Death Shroud, blanketing the field in the blessing of the better dragon.

Four models on the hill let me activate two Woldwompers. The one that Khador had thrown away went first, moving back into melee. The second moved up and threw one of the Protectorate Revengers back into Kreoss, doing a bit of damage to both. Death Shroud really messed with the Woldwompers’ strength scores, making them less effective.

+1 VP for hill.

Protectorate
Out on the flank, the Knights Exemplar charged the Mauler and Fell Caller, leaving space for the Seneschal to get to the Mauler if it survived. The three Exemplar took down the Fell Caller without any problem, but the Seneschal had to come in to help out on the Mauler. He couldn’t finish it, but he did chain-attack slam it back into Horluck, which was rather entertaining. The Mauler wasn’t dead, but it would be stalled for a round.

Meanwhile the unthrown Revenger whacked on the Woldwomper a few times, doing a fair bit of damage (but not as much as it would have without Death Shroud). Kreoss moved behind the Choir and the other Revenger moved forward to re-engage the Woldwomper.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Trollbloods
The Trolls turned their attention of the Protectorate forces, not wanting to get attacked from behind. The Mauler that had gotten slammed ran up to re-engage the Exemplar while the second Mauler turned to engage a couple more, killing three. Horluck tried to cast Vexation on the Seneschal but missed. The Kreilstone put up its aura again.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Cryx
Deneghra and her bone jacks jocky a bit up on the hill. The War Witch steps back from the Kodiaks, putting an arc node between her and my forces. The Bokur hits the hill as well, and the other two arc nodes and the pistol wraith fill in around them, netting Gary the most models on the hill. I believe Deneghra cast Parasite on the Kodiak nearest her as well. The Pistol Wraith Death Chilled the Kodiak with arms on it.

The Mechanithralls swarm the Kovnik and Kodiaks, but between Inhospitable Ground preventing charges and Death Shroud lowering Strength, they’re not able to kill either. However one of the Woldwompers that Gary activates does manage to rip off both arms from the Kodiak nearest him.

+1 Hill VP Cryx

Score

Khador: 1
Everblight: 6 (+3 Hill)
Protectorate: 1 (+1 Fell Caller)
Trollbloods: 1 (+1 half the Exemplar)
Cryx: 1

Turn 3

Khador
The armless Kodiak wasn’t quite defenseless and vented steam, catching a couple Mechanithralls and damaging the Woldwomper in front of it. The Kovnik killed another Mechanithrall and Irusk shot a third before putting Inhospitable Ground back up. The other Kodiak tore into the second Woldwomper, but with its strength lowered with Death Shroud it left the construct with just a couple boxes left.

+1 VP Cryx for hill

Everblight
I decided it was time to try and pounce. Deneghra was hiding behind a bone jack, but I had two things in my favor – the ability to slam the bonejack and Eyeless Sight – so I decided to go for it. The Carnivean needed a 12 to slam the Bonejack, but I managed to get it, sending the node over Deneghra and knocking her down. I sent a Shredder up to attack the Pistol Wraithon the Cryxian side of the hill and killed it. Then the Seraph stepped up and attacked the knocked down Deneghra, hitting and rolling 6 additional attacks, sealing her fate. The Shredders moved to face the Protectorate forces and Thagrosh threw up Death Shroud, Spiny Growth on himself, and dumped fury down to 1.

The first Woldwomper activated was the one near the Protectorate lines, which threw the Revenger over the choir at Kreoss. A perfect deviation roll insured every model was hit, killing the Choir and knocking down the caster. I then activated the Womper near the armless Kodiak and finished it off.

+1 VP for hill.

Protectorate
The remaining Knights finished off the wounded Mauler while Kreoss’s unthrown revenger beat on the Woldwomper some more, but couldn’t kill it with -2 strength.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Trollbloods
The Krielstone moved over by the remaining Mauler, which used its animus on itself and two-handed-threw a stone scribe over the entire line of knights. Each knight (including the Seneschal) was killed and the stone scribe actually made its Tough roll upon landing.

+1 VP Everblight for the hill

Cryx
Without Deneghra, the Mechanithralls still couldn’t quite get through the Kovniks armor. The Bokur attacked the Shredder but missed it’s one attack (rolled bad on Flying Steel) to end the game.

+1 Hill VP Everblight

Score

Khador: 1
Everblight: 22 (+4 Hill, +5 Deneghra, +3 Bonejack x3, +1 Pistol Wraith, +3 Kodiak)
Protectorate: 4 (+3 Mauler)
Trollbloods: 3 (+1 other half of Exemplar, Seneschal)
Cryx: 2 (+1 Hill)

My Thoughts

Khador
Mark got teamed up on and it hurt. It seemed everyone was always picking on his jacks with the Woldwompers, keeping them out of combat. He was resilient but just couldn’t mount the offense he otherwise would have been able to.

Everblight
Thagrosh’s Death Shroud was just mean this game. It really hurt everyone on the table so much more than just a 2-player game. I’m not sure I’ll take him anymore in this format because of that. He’s just vile. Other than that, my early gambit to take the hill first turn and keep fighting for it was paying off. Even if I hadn’t gotten to Deneghra, I was building a lead on hill VPs that I should have been able to maintain.

Protectorate
Phenomenal_1 hurt himself a bit when he split his forces, sending most of his offense around the flank. He basically yielded his claim on the hill, which cost him VPs. He did fairly well against the Trolls, though.

Trollbloods
Because he had a load of knights heading his way, AK couldn’t afford to go strait for the hill or they’d just come up behind him. Because of that, he got punished a bit and had to split his force, then allocated his whole force towards the Protectorate, missing out on the hill.

Cryx
The Cryxian swarm was nasty. I think Death Shroud was the primary reason Khador lasted as long as it did against all those McThralls and Womper attacks. Gary realized as I started my turn he should have had Deneghra feat to deny me the slam, but it was a bit too late.

America Hill
I’m looking at some changes to the hill to make it a bit more fair:

Weakening the Woldwompers just a bit, probably by lowering their POW on their fists and maybe taking away another point of armor
Making which Woldwompers get activated random each time. That should make it a bit harder to pick on one player to much.
Maybe making it so you only activate one per turn no matter what.

Chad’s challenge for this Wednesday may be the last hill fight for a while once we start the league. It also might be my last battle report for a while, since I probably won’t be worrying about taking pictures and what not during my league matches. If I’m not playing and one of the forum goers asks, I might be able to do some pictures of their match as they play but I don’t want to be disruptive. We’ll just have to see what happens.