Hordes Battle Report - Skorne vs. Blindwater Congregation - 35 pts
It's time again for another batrep, this time featuring Mark's Skorne taking on Beau's Blindwater Congregation. Beau's List:
- Bloody Barnabas
- Blackhide Wrastler
- Ironback Spitter
- Bull Snapper
- Max. Gatorman Posse
- Totem Hunter
- Wrong Eye & Snapjaw
Mark's List:
- EMakeda
- Molik Karn
- Titan Gladiator x 2
- Max. Nihilators
- Min. Beast Handlers
- Tyrant Commander & Standard Bearer
Deployment: Beau won the roll off and chose to deploy and go first. From top to bottom he deployed: The Gatorman Posse, Blackhide Wrastler, Barnabas, Bull Snapper, Ironback Spitter, Wrong Eye, Snapjaw and the Totem Hunter. From top to bottom Mark deployed: Beasthandlers, Gladiator, Nihilators, Tyrant Commander & Standard, Molik Karn, Makeda and the other Gladiator.
The scenario for this report was Restoration, in which one can score points by controlling the zone if they also destroy the objective on their opponents side. The objectives were Resoration Chaches, which when activated remove continuous effects and heal D3 damage to everything within 4" of it. The blue 3" areas are the shallow water AOEs that Blindwater lists are permitted to place before deployment. The Totem Hunter's eyes may prove bigger than its stomach, as it chose Molik Karn to be its Prey.
Blindwater turn 1: Barnabas shed 3 fury and ran forward, followed by everything else.
Skorne turn 1: First off the Gladiator by the forest used its animus, Rush (target warbeast gains +2 movement and Pathfinder), on itself and charged the Wrastler, with the other one running up next to the skull pile. Makeda activated, cast Road to War (friendly faction non-warlock models activating in her CTRL get +2 movement), cast Leash (after she moves target warbeast in her battlegroup can advance 3" toward her) on Molik Karn and advanced foward, with Molik advancing via his Leash movement. Next the Nihilators ran up to just outside the zone and Molik Karn took the long way, following the Gladiator's lead towards the skulls. Lastly, the Tyrant Commander and Standard advanced, as did the Beast Handlers.
A Blindwater perspective.
A Skorne perspective.
Blindwater turn 2: The Gatorman Posse went first, using the Dirge of Mists prayer (+1 DEF and Terror) and ran forward in a spread out formation. Barnabas went next, casting Iron Flesh (+3 DEF, -1 SPD) on the Posse, cast Swamp Pit (places a 5" AOE of shallow water within his CTRL area) in the zone, cast the Bull Snappers animus, Spiny Growth (+2 ARM and a warbeast/jack damaging it with a melee attack takes D3 damage), on the Wrastler and moved slightly. The Spitter riled for 1 fury then ran laterally, to be next to the forest and the Bull Snapper advanced behind Barnabas and put Spiny Growth on the Spitter. The Wrastler riled for 2 fury, moving slightly and the Totem Hunter ran in front of it. Lastly, Wrong Eye and Snapjaw ran onto the hill.
Skorne turn 2: Makeda didn't upkeep Leash. The Tyrant Commander advanced and used Overcome (gains Pathfinder) on the Nihilators so they could charge though the shallow water without penalty. Makeda activated next, moved behind the TyCom, cast Road to War and sat on 3 fury and then the Nihilators charged. One that charged the Totem Hunter (missing) and three charged the DEF 16 Gatormen. The Nihilator by the Swamp Pit was the only one to hit, but rolled well on damage to kill the Gatorman outright. The Gladiator by the skulls ran up to the side of the zone and the other Gladiator ran towards it. The Beast Handlers advanced and Molik Karn ran back around the skulls near Mark's Restoration Cache.
Blindwater turn 3: Barnabas didn't upkeep Iron Flesh. Wrong Eye advanced and hit a Nihilator with a boosted Influence (make target enemy non-warlock warrior model make one normal melee attack), having it attack another Nihilator, but it missed. Snapjaw then riled for 2 and ran in front of Wrong Eye (both of which are just out of frame). Next the Spitter spat at the Nihilators standing right on the corner of the zone, but missed and the AOE deviated to nowhere. The Gatorman Posse advanced, used Dirge of Mist again and attacked the Nihilators, killing 3, with one making its tough check. The Totem Hunter advanced and leapt (a 5" place) to attack two more Nihilators, missing the one to its left with it's pole arm and hitting the one to its right with the buckler, but he made his tough check, thus not triggering Sprint. The Wrastler shifted a bit and riled for 3 and the Bull Snapper advanced behind the Wrastler to give it Spiny Growth. Barnabas cast Iron Flesh on the Posse again, cast Spiny Growth on the Spitter and moved towards the Bull Snapper.
Skorne turn 3: The Beast Handlers advanced toward the tower and used Enrage (target warbeast gets +2 STR and must charge, slam or trample) on the Gladiator closest to it. Makeda went next, cast Molik Karns animus Fate Walker (the model casting it can make a full advance after everything has activated this turn), cast Road to War, used her feat (friendly faction models get boosted attack rolls and can't be knocked down or targeted by free strikes) and advanced toward the skull pile to her left. The TyCom advanced, used Reveille (stands up friendly faction models in his CMD range) to stand up the Nihilators and attacked the Totem Hunter, killing it. The Nihilators then charged, doing a few damage here and there to the Posse, but taking out nothing. Next the Enraged Gladiator charged and killed the Gatorman by the edge of the zone. The other Gladiator riled for 2 and ran into the zone, while Molik Karn ran and riled for 1. Lastly, Makeda Fate Walkered behind Molik.
Blindwater turn 4: Beau realized last turn that unless he wanted to leave Barnabas with zero fury he would be over one this turn. He decided that, with Mark's heavies bearing down on him, it was go time and he couldn't risk the heavies frenzying, so he left a fury on the Bull Snapper, knowing that if it did frenzy it would attack Barnabas. Unfortunately for Beau it did frenzy and rolled quite well, hitting Barnabas for 10 damage which he transferred back to it. Barnabas upkept Iron Flesh on the Posse, cast Warpath (when a friendly faction model in his CTRL range destroys an enemy model, a beast in his battle group can advance 3") and advanced closer to the nearby skull pile. The Posse activated, used Dirge of Mists again and killed 3 Nihilators, triggering Warpath movement, allowing the Wrastler to move towards the Gladiator in the zone. Wrong Eye advanced, killed another Nihilator with his Swamp Hook and Influenced the TyCom to attack the Nihilator in front of him, but the Nihilator was just out of the TyCom's melee range. Snapjaw then charged the TyCom, killed it in one hit and purchased two attacks at the Nihilator leader, one of which missed, but the Nihilator made it's tough check against the other and wasn't knocked down due to Makeda's feat. The Wrastler then charged the Gladiator in the zone, maxing out on fury to purchase attacks, hit with all of them and finished it off with the last attack. Lastly, the Spitter trampled over the Nihilator in its face (killed it) to get to the other Gladiator and hit it with one of two purchased attacks, doing 7 damage.
Skorne turn 4: First off the Beast Handlers Enraged the beasts and the 3 remaining Nihilators charged, one doing a few points of damage to the Wrastler and the others missing the Posse. The Gladiator "charged" the Spitter and killed it easily. The Standard Bearer ran in front of Snapjaw and Molik Karn charged the Wrastler, finished it off and cast Fate Walker. Makeda cast Engine of Destruction (the caster gains +2 SPD, +4 STR and +4 MAT) and charged a Gatorman, killed it and cast Fate Walker. Molik Karn then moved back towards the forest and Makeda moved behind the Gladiator.
Blindwater turn 5: Barnabas didn't up keep Iron Flesh. Things weren't looking good for the Gators so Beau though that he might be able to clear out the zone and then have Snapjaw try to take out Mark's Restoration Cache to score a point. Wrong Eye advanced and after spending 3 fury finally killed a surprisingly tough Nihilator. The Gatormen used Dirge of Mists and advanced, but were only able to kill 1 of the 2 remaining Nihilators in the zone and Snapjaw then consoled himself by chewing on the Standard Bearer. In an attempt to take some one down with him, Barnabas charged Molik Karn, used his feat (knocks down non-Amphibious models in his CTRL area) and used all his fury hitting the knocked down Karn, but left him with 8 health, his only missing aspect being his mind. Lastly, the Bull Snapper advanced, used Spiny Growth on Barnabas and riled for 1.
Skorne turn 5: Mark played it a bit risky with fury management, leaving 1 on both Molik and the Gladaitor, but he got lucky and neither frenzied. Both also shook off knock down. The Beast Handlers went first, advanced, healed Molik's mind and Enraged the Gladiator. Molik moved up and missed both his initial attacks on Barnabas. He then purchased an attack, hit and (with Barnabas at ARM 21) did a 8 damage, but then lost his spirit due to Spiny Growth and was done. Then the Gladiator charged with its tusks and did enough to kill Barnabas, who failed his tough check.
Aftermath: Yet another report passes with no scenario victory, however I don't think that was a high priority for either of these lists. Beau admittedly regretted a couple things this game, like forgetting to activate the Restoration Cache on turn 4 or not putting Spiny Growth on the Wrastler the turn it took out the Gladiator (probably would have done enough damage to Molik that Barnabas would've killed it that last turn, then cast Iron Flesh on himself for free), but it didn't help that Mark rolled fairly well throughout the game, passing a good amount of tough checks and rarely missing, with the noted exception of the DEF 16 Gatormen. He was also VERY lucky that the Gladiator didn't frenzy on turn 5, as, aside from not being able to activate, it would have probably killed Molik Karn. With that said, the Totem Hunter may have been better off Preying one of the units and Wrong Eye & Snapjaw didn't exactly earn their points by swiping at Nihilators all game. One of Barnabas' key attractions is his feat, which was essentially neutralized by EMakeda's feat preventing knock down. Though an argument can be made that Blindwater lists generally can have a tough time cracking high ARM things, I think it's safe to say that EMakeda lists with Molik and multiple Titans can be a pain for a lot of factions to deal with. It also seemed that Beau was expecting Mark to send Molik in sooner than later, to tear things up via some Side Step wackiness, but for better or for worse, Mark has a somewhat unconventional playstyle and opted not too. Regardless, he was victorious in his first TDA batrep, breaking his 5 game losing streak. Stay tuned for John's Protectorate taking on Bredan's Retribution, as well as the first Legion appearance in these reports thus far.