Legion of Everblight vs. Protectorate of Menoth – Battle of the Frail

Legion of Everblight vs. Protectorate of Menoth, 500 pts.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

After I finished trying out a round of Infernal Contraption, Prorpger asked to play a game and actually commented that he wanted to try the Legion out. I was hesitant to let him borrow my models since obviously once a troll player experiences the awesomeness that is Everblight, they’ll never want to go back to their old faction. But what kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t give Prorpger more and more reasons to spend money.

Protectorate of Menoth (Myself)

• Severius
• Castigator
• Dervish
• Devout
• Revenger
• Vilmon
• Seneschal
• Choir x6
• Choir x6

My theme for the night was “things I never get to try.” The Castigator and Dervish don’t see the table much and I hadn’t played Severius in a while. I decided to take those models, throw in a node and a Devout (I was playing against Legion after all) and go jack-heavy. Adding two choirs meant I could be combining Infuse with Eye of Menoth to get +3/+3 on my jacks… MAT 8 P+S 16 light jacks aren’t anything to sneeze at. Vilmon and the Seneschal were added to fill out the list – Vilmon to act as a distraction and the Seneschal to slam if needed.

Legion of Everblight (Prorpger)

• Lylyth
• Carnivean
• Seraph
• Shredder x3
• Forsaken x2
• Warmongers x5

Prorpger decided to bring Lylyth and brought a Carnivean flavored beatstick go along with his Seraph’s ranged capabilities and the small Shredder swarm. A couple Forsaken added some much needed assistance in the Fury management department given Lylyth’s low Fury and the number of beasts. Finally a full unit of Warmongers was added to give him a good punch as well as act as linemen while the rest of his army outflanked me.

I won initiative and decided to deploy first. I knew that I really needed to keep Prorpger from getting the first charge on me, so I needed to get up field in a hurry. Vilmon was quickly assigned the task of slowing the Warmongers up and preventing them from killing my jacks too quickly. Sevy and the Jacks were plopped down in the center of the table, the choirs were split up behind them, and the Seneschal was tossed off to one side. Vilmon was put out on the right flank where I hoped he’d have a clear run at the Legion lines.

Prorpger placed Lylyth and her Shredders centrally. The Seraph was placed Vilmon’s flank and the Carnivean on the opposite side. The Warmongers were placed just to Lylyth’s right where they could run forward first turn to get in the way.

Turn 1

Protectorate
Nothing too fancy here. Severius gave the Castigator and Dervish a focus each, keeping the remaining 6 for spells. Those two jacks ran forward to either side of the linear obstacle in front of my deployment zone so they wouldn’t have to try to charge over it. The Revenger walked up behind the Dervish and arced Holy Vigil onto the sword wielding jack, raising it’s DEF to 18. I hoped that with Riposte would make attacking it seem like a bad option. Severius also cast Eye of Menoth and upkept it the rest of the game (big surprise). The old man then walked up behind the wall, giving him cover (the one thing that would help against eyeless sight). The Devout ambled up after him and the two choirs advanced and sang Safe Passage. Finally Vilmon went into Impervious Wall and ran to the nearby hill, getting a slight DEF bonus for elevation.

Legion
Prorpger’s Shredders moved up field to behind his linear obstacle, each throwing Tenacity on a Warmonger. The ‘mongers themselves ran forward, getting in front of the linear obstacle to open charge options. They stayed far enough back from my lines that I wasn’t going to get a charge on them next turn, much to my dismay.

The Seraph flew forward through the woods and his Forsaken followed behind, consuming the two Fury that the Seraph had been riled for. On the opposite flank the Carnivean advanced and put Spiny Growth up, then his Forsaken followed and consumed those two Fury as well. Finally Lylyth advanced and cast three Tenacities… two on the remaining Warmongers and one on the Seraph’s Forsaken. That left her with two Fury left and three on the Shredders to leech next turn.

Turn 2

Protectorate
I didn’t like Prorpger’s setup.
Priority 1: slow the Warmongers.
Priotity 2: Dull the Carnivean’s charge.

One focus on the Dervish, one on the Revenger, one to upkeep EoM, Severius keeps the rest.

The Dervish ran forward first, but didn’t go far. I realized I couldn’t reach on a charge but didn’t want to leave the Focus on the jack, so he ran a big bad 4 inches. The Seneschal ran over behind him – the Dervish was bait and the Seneschal was posed to counterstrike if he took it.

The Revenger ran up in front of Severius to be my midfield blocker. Sevy stood still and arced Holy Vigil onto the Dervish again and sat on the rest of his focus. The Castigator advanced to the right outside of the Carnivean’s charge range and Combusted just to dissuade a Shredder charge and the Devout camped near Severius.

The left Choir advanced behind the Dervish and only 3 contributed to an Infuse chant, catching just the Dervish while the other choir sat still and threw a max distance Safe Passage, catching the rest of the jacks. This meant that the Dervish was going to be shootable, but at DEF 18 I thought he’d still be relatively safe from everything except Lylyth (who would be distracted by my next move). Infuse + EoM meant if a Shredder did charge the Dervish and missed (likely even when boosted), my Riposte would be at MAT 8 P+S 16.

Finally Vilmon addressed Priority 1 by going into Impervious Wall and running right into the Warmongers front and center.

Legion
Prorpger was unhappy with Vilmon, and who could blame him. He actually hadn’t faced the High Paladin before and started talking out the options. He quickly hit on how using Witch Mark effectively meant she was casting spells at a Fury stat of 7 (her RAT) instead of 5 (her Fury), but since Impervious Wall ignores damage AND effects, Witch Mark wouldn’t be applied to him even if she shot him. That meant either casting a spell a Fury 5 vs. DEF 13 +4 (in melee) +2 (screening) OR giving up boosted RAT 12 POW 16 Weaponmaster free strikes on each Warmonger as they moved away to give Lylyth a clean shot. Prorpger had a good grasp of what he could and couldn’t do so after he tossed out ideas and realized his options weren’t good, I volunteered a little trick to him I’ve picked up.

The Warmongers activated first and received a run order. The one just to the left of Vilmon stepped up to beside the Paladin, touching his base and bridging the edge of Vilmon’s melee range. The others then Ran around him, exiting Vilmon’s melee range at a point where I couldn’t draw a line from my base to his to take free strikes.

Prorpger then activated the Seraph, forcing it for slipstream. The Seraph flew up 3″ to get within 2″ of the last Warmonger then flew 3″ to the side, getting out of Vilmon’s melee range and avoiding a free strike due to its Wings ability. Using Slipstream he then placed the last Warmonger 2″ forward past Vilmon and out of his melee range, tuning him so as to not engage the paladin. The Seraph shot at my right Choir but was out of range, then one fully boosted Eruption of Spines later (that costs 5 Fury to do!) Vilmon was off the table and out of Prorpger’s hair.

After that Prorpger decided not to take the Dervish bait with his Carnivean and instead Assaulted my left Choir. His spray caught three models (including the leader) and he boosted each attack roll, killing all three. The remaining Choir members had to take two command checks – one for the Carnivean’s Horrific Attack ability and one for mass casualties. They were close enough to use Severius’ CMD 9 but still failed the second test.

One Shredder went Rabid and charged the Dervish. It missed its attack but the Dervish couldn’t connect on the Riposte either (D’oh!). The middle Shredder went rabid and advanced, putting Tenacity on the Warmonger leader and the last one advanced and threw Rabid on the rightmost Warmonger. Finally the Forsaken activated. The right one consumed fury off the Seraph but the left wound up too short to consume from the Carnivean. That meant Lylyth was going to have 9 Fury on the table next turn barring any deaths.

Turn 3

Protectorate
Vilmon was dead and Prorpger was in my face now so I needed to lay some smack down if I didn’t want to get overrun. First things first, the fleeing Choir ran far enough to ensure that they would be leaving the table next turn, so we just moved them out of the way.

Sevy gave the Castigator 2 Focus, the Revenger 2 Focus, the Dervish 1 Focus, and upkept Eye of Menoth. The Choir went first and shuffled forward then Infused like they never Infused before. The Seneschal then charged the Carnivean to slam it back out of my hair.

Quick basic math break here. A Seneschal has a MAT of 8. With EoM up that becomes a 9. The Carnivean has a DEF of 11. So what does he need to roll to hit? Only a 2 – no problem. Except for the rule that if you roll double 1’s you automatically miss. Anyone want to guess which rule of Warmachine was applied to the Seneschal’s first attack? The second attack wiped the beasts’s Mind branch.

Fortunately the Carnivean wasn’t engaging the Dervish so it shuffled around to engage both the Warmonger leader and the Shredder. He then unloaded on the Shredder, killing it with three attacks after missing one (Prorpger doesn’t reave). Then the Revenger walked up to engage as many Warmongers as possible. He started attacking the one he really needed to kill – the one engaging the Castigator. Even with Infuse and EoM the Revenger had to use a Focus for an extra attack to finally kill the damn ogrun, so I spent the last Focus to attack another Warmonger… and killed it in one blow. That freed the Castigator to cheerfully walked up to the Seraph. It nailed the beast with a left hook that both dazed and ignited the poor creature and after a few more quick jabs and the Seraph was nothing more than a charred corpse. Good thing, too. I definitely didn’t need that thing shooting the crap out of my frail old man.

Sevy himself moved back a few inches and the Devout followed, just to make sure he’d be safe while his ample control radius insured he’s be able to manage his jacks next turn.

Legion
This would be the part where I applogize for forgetting to take pictures of this turn. :/

Prorpger pulls all four Fury from the Carnivean and one from a shredder and made all his threshhold checks. Lylyth started out by moving forward, feating, and boost to hit capping my remaining Choir leader even with cover. She then poured Fury into the Carnivean, healing it up. The Carniven then sidestepped around the Seneschal to engage both it and the Dervish. The first claw attack took care of the Seneschal and then he went to town on the Dervish. A few fury later the Dervish was a pile of scrap.

The Warmongers shifted around, the leader engaging my Reventer while the other two moved over to the Castigator. The Castigator lost a six or seven boxes out of the middle of its grid and the Revenger took some damage to the right side of its grid but kept a hold on its Halberd. The Shredders split up and each went rabid on a jack but both ARM 19s held up and only let a couple points through. Finally the left Forsaken filled up on Fury from the Carnivean and the right Forsaken ran towards the middle of the table to get into better position. She already had five 5 and was waiting for a chance to get close enough to Severius.

Turn 4

Protectorate
1 Focus upkept EoM, 3 to the Revenger, 2 to the Castigator. The Castegator moved up to engage both Warmongers and the Shredder and started swinging, killing a warmonger and a Shredder. The Revenger spent his Focus to try to kill the Warmonger leader and wound up doing 7 points of damage on with his halberd through the ogrun’s armor.

Sevvy then gave the choir the charge order before backing onto the hill for a small DEF bonus. The Devout followed him back and the Choir charged the Warmonger. Two were able to make charges (passing their CMD check using Severius’ CMD 9) and the other three fanned out to get between the beasts and the old man. Both choir boys hit but neigher broke the Ogrun’s armor.

Legion
Lylyth leeched all four fury she had on the table. The left Forsaken ran into the midst of the Choir (they passed thier CMD check) and blight shrouded, killing the left four. Lylyth slid around behind the Forsaken and capped the last choir boy (boosting to hit). The shredder went rabid. maneuvered so that his base was in contact with both the Revenger and the Warmonger Apostle, and attacked. With his positioning the Revenger’s shield wouldn’t push him out of melee but unfortunately the Shredder failed to get through the jack’s armor on either attack. The Warmonger leader moved up and attacked the Revenger, tearing into columns 2 and 3 but leaving his systems intact and getting pushed back. The other warmonger beat on the Castigator, disabling its movement.

The second Forsaken circled back around the Warmonger to get out of range of my spells and jacks. Finally the Carnivean was forced to run back behind the linear obstacle, staring down Severius.

Turn 5

Protectorate
1 Focus upkept EoM, 3 to the Revenger, 2 to the Devout, 2 on Severius. The Castigator circled as far to the side of the warmonger engaging it as a 1″ move would let it then punched it twice, killing it. The Revenger then circled around the Shredder, staying it its melee range and engaging every damn thing on the table. I decided to go for broke and swung at Lylyth, boosting to hit and doing 7 damage, which she took. I then hit the Shredder with my shield, taking out its Spirit and bought another attack on Lylyth, hitting again for 9 damage. She sent the second hit to the Carnivean.

The Devout then moved in on the Carnivean and kept buying attacks with its halberd, the final one bringing the big boy down to two boxes left. Sevvy decided what the hell and charged in himself to finish it off.

Legion
Lylyth took the two Fury from the Shredder and with the three she had maxed out at five. Then the Warmonger moved back to 2″ and swung at the Revenger, finally ripping its halberd off but getting pushed back another inch in the process. The Shredder went rabid and attacked (we forgot it had no spirit) and did not damage but got pushed away as well.

Lylyth dashed for the nearby woods and launched an arrow at the Devout (boosting to hit), hitting it for 1 damage. She then cast Eruption of spines and did no damage to the Devout but boosted and rolled 14, doing 10 points of damage to the old man! The empty Forsaken ran at Severius to engage him but forgot about the Devout’s Defensive Strike and got killed. The other moved in front of Lylyth to get in the way and be ready for a blight shroud if Severius got closer.

Turn 6

Protectorate
Um, Ow? Not good, but I had a shot. Severius kept all his focus for himself, since the Revenger was currently unengaged and had LOS to Lylyth. Severius lobbed two boosted Immolations at Lylyth, but neither was a critical hit and both damage rolls were low enough to leave the crazy woman with five live left. Damn!

The Revenger stepped up and bashed the Warmonger with his shield, missing, and the Castigator advanced 1″ towards the Shredder and Combusted. Unfortunately the Shredder was just out of range. Sevy’s Devout advanced just a little and I ended my turn with no focus.

Legion
Lylyth took one Fury off the Shredder and cut herself for 4 more, leaving her with one wound left. Just like last round – boost to hit the Devout, a few points of damage, Spiny Growth… but this time she only does four points of damage, leaving Severius with two left. The Forsaken moves up staying away from the Devout and blight shrouds, but only does one point. Severius lives!!

The Warmonger attacked the Revenger, breaking its Cortex and the Spirit-less Shredder snuck up behind but didn’t do any damage. Prorpger then ended his turn.

Turn 7

Protectorate
Severius limped forward, boosted to hit with an Immolation, hit (still no crit) and boosted damage, finally killing Lylyth and driving Everblight’s forces off the table!

Sevvy the Burninator…

Summation

Protectorate
MVP was the Revenger. Or more specifically, it’s Repulsor shield. That blessed device raised the jack’s armor high enough that it could take a few hits and pushed people back when it the arc node was really needed. Good job, little fella.

The Dervish + Holy Vigil combo was nice, but once the fight was really joined I couldn’t afford to keep it up. Casting Holy Vigil was 3 focus that I needed to give to jacks to boost attacks and the Dervish never had a chance to stand in one place to the spell could be upkept.

And finally Severius’s killing of the Carnivean in melee was just entertaining.

Everblight
Had Prorpger been able to get the charge with the Warmongers, I think the game would have gone a lot differently. Luckily for me Vilmon was able to keep that from happening, even if it did cost him his life. Prorpger made some good calls at the throughout the game – using the Spiny Growth to get around the Devout’s Shielding ability and Severius’ staff was damn near fatal.

He got a little unlucky with the Carnivean going down, but by the last couple turns we were both on our last legs. One good roll on either side would have ended the game and I just happened to finally make that good roll first.