5 games in...

     We started our Journeyman league this last Friday night and while I wasn't able to make it in to the shop to get some games in, I did make it in on Sunday. Over the course of the day, I got 5 games in and my win/loss is currently 3-2. Not too shabby. I'm also starting to figure out how/when to use my assets and what I should look for in my opponents force and turns to react to. Our Journeyman league rules are pretty much copied straight from the Privateer Press site, but with one great exception. Look here if you want to try and find it before the break...

     I'll go ahead and put it here to save time:

Alternatively, if you wish to bring a faction build not on the list, you can bring a battlegroup that is equivalent to 11 points or less.

I play Circle (Baldur and constructs mostly), Merc dwarves (sometimes searforge, sometimes highborn or 5 star)and I sometimes dabble in Gator Voodoo with Blindwater. As it's my newest faction, I was planning on running the gators so I could get more practice with the flying circus and gain some experience with Barnabus and Calaban, however, having read the afore-mentioned addendum to the list-building rules, that started me thinking...
     I've just received and assembled 3 Satyrs over the holidays which solved the issue of me not owning any living warbeasts to field a Kromac list with. Having owned Kromac since MKI, I've really wanted to get him onto the table and see what he can do. Well, as he gives 4 warbeast points, that makes him, a Shadowhorn (7) and a Gnarlhorn (8) into an 11 point list. Perfect. Not only do I get to try out a 'lock I've wanted to use for years, but I also can get some games and experience in with my new beasties.
     So, for those of you playing along at home, that makes my current, week 1, list:
Kromac (+4)
Shadowhorn Satyr (7)
Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
     Yesterday, these 3 stalwarts of the wooden realm faced down 2 skorne lists, some trolls, the Butcher and Grayle. We were victorious in 3 of our 5 combats, choosing the assassination route as opposed to the scenario win condition of wiping out the opposing beasts/jacks (Mangled Metal / Tooth and Claw).

Game 1:
pButhcer (+6)
Decimator (9)
Juggernaut (7)
-Only now, after looking those up to get the point costs, do I realize that he cheated himself a point. That Juggie could have been a Kodiak. Ah well, it's not as if he needed it. I underestimated the strength and survivability of Khador heavy jacks and Shane served me up my first loss of the day through tearing apart my Satyrs. I learned an important lesson this game regarding my wiry little Shadowhorn. Even though you're rolling 2 dice for a 2handed throw, 2d6 + 10 against 1d6 + 13, you still have to roll better than crap to beat it. And the Shadowhorn fails throw number 1.

Game 2:
pMorghoul (+7)
Titan Gladiator 8
Cyclops Savage 5
Cyclops Savage 5
-Joe was defeated by the hoppy skippy movement shenanigans of the Circle. I threw a virility animus on the Gnarlhorn, slammed a cyclops 1d6+4" back, directly over Morghoul and followed up into base contact with him, buying attacks to end the game.

Game 3:
pMadrak (+5)
Axer (6)
Impaler (5)
Impaler (5)
-This game was against my lovely wife. She threw sidestep on an impaler and bricked up through the middle of the board. This is where my Shadowhorn failed its second throw of the day. Goal was to throw the side-stepped impaler away from Madrak so when the Gnarlhorn slammed into the axer and pushed him back into Madrak, they'd both fall down. Didn't happen, although the Gnarlhorn did manage to pound the axer into paste. Madrak and the spear trolls stepped up on the next turn and put the goats in the ground handing me my second loss of the day. Well done wifey!

Game 4:
Grayle (+6)
Argus (4)
Argus (4)
Feral Warpwolf (9)
-This is a fast group. They ran up the center of the table and chewed through one of my Satyrs turn 2. This is where I love place effects. On the next turn, Kromac beasts out, runs up, jumps over the warbeasts and with his reach and a full plate of fury, ended the game.

Game 5:
Xerxis (+5)
Titan Gladiator (8)
Titan Gladiator (8)
-I used bestial this game. Twice. What a great spell for denial. As my goats don't have pathfinder, my opponent was keeping inhospitable ground up, or attempting to, so I got in close and forced him to move back to throw it. With his focus on that one, Defender's ward fell off after the first turn.I finally succeeded in throwing a heavy, putting some 0 damage on a gladiator but knocking it and Xerxis down and giving him a nice bruise. Meanwhile, the other goat slammed gladiator 2 back into Xerxis, and followed up to lay down a beating, putting its spirit branch out of commission. On his turn, he made some really (what I considered)  odd choices in his activations, so we talked about what fury can do for you (healing/shake off/etc...) and realized he really wasn't aware of some of his options. Placing everything back where it started, he ran through his turn again, to much better results, killing 1 satyr and knocking another down to just 2 health left. Unfortunately (for him), he left his caster out where Kromac could charge him and with a full plate of fury and his feat still unpopped, our Tharn caster dropped the mighty Xerxis.

     I had a blast, had plenty of gaming, met a couple new people and enjoyed myself immensely. My wife got 4 games in and we should both be able to get another 2 or 3 week 1 games played in the next couple of days as our buddy Dan plans to drop by to get his churchies smashed in (No actual Menites were harmed in the writing of this blog post). Week 2 starts this Friday and brings with it a chance to learn how to better use my shifting stones. Until next time...