The last Hurrah

My first post for some time and I thought I'd sum up my Smogcon experience.

For the past few months I have felt a bit bored by my beloved Legion. It's not that I don't love them anymore I really do but bearing in mind I have played them since they came into existence and now our local meta has seen an influx of Legionnaires of late I thought its time for a break.

I decided Smogcon was going to be my last hurrah with them for a year and stopped buying anything new (including the awesome Blight Bringer) at the end of 2015. I didn't enter any events at Smogcon as free time is limited at the moment and I have very little time for practice games so decided to just rock out the Iron arena all weekend . I packed almost all the Legion I own with the exception of the huge based stuff and some bits that were unbuilt/ partially built into my trusty Kaiser 3 bag and off I went.

Arriving later than planned Friday thanks to the British public forgetting how to use roundabouts my lift share buddy Phil and I decided to play each other 1st game. Phil is a fairly new player and he was using PKreos, I asked him who would he like to face and his Reply was Lylyth2 my list was.

Lylyth Shadow of everblight
succubus
Ravagore
Ravagore
Ravagore
Naga
Shredder
Strider Deathstalker
Strider Deathstalker
Strider Rangers +UA
Shepherd
Forsaken.

Now I have not played Lylyth 2 for 2 or 3 years and the game went how you would expect and I shot him off the board by the end of turn 2. The game reminded me why I don't play her too much any more it was very linear but it was an experience for phil.

The rest of the Friday I decided to play 2 lists Abby2 and Vayl2.
The Abby2 list was:
Absylonia Daughter of Everblight
Nephilim Bloodseer
Scythean
Scythean
Raek
Raek
Seraph
Zuriel
Shredder
Forsaken
Forsaken

I really like The Bloodseer in this list it allows me to really abuse slipstream whilst Zuriel is there for some serious infantry clearing .

The Vayl2 list was a fairly Vanilla Tier 4 Machinations of Shadow
Vayl Consul of Everblight
Angelius
Angelius
Angelius
Ravagore
Ravagore
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires
Spawning vessel
Shephers
Shepherd
Spell Martyr
Spell Martyr
Spell Martyr

I played these 2 lists into a variey of opponents including Kruger2 twice,  H-Bombs Sorcha 2 tier list, Madrak 2 and Ravyn (these are the memorable games) I didn't lose a game all day. I battered my good friend Dave Munro (who had travelled from Sweden where he is based now for the event) who had underestimated the threat range of Abby 2 and felt safe with Madrak in a trench on 3 transfers not expecting a slipstreamed flying leaping Raek to get in it with him and headbutting him before having 2 flying Scytheans applied to his face.

Saturday Bought 2 new lists Vayl1 and Kallus. Kallus is one of my favourite warlocks to play and my twist on him is to take a fair bit of high def infantry mixed with Legos with Farilor to jam zones (defensive line + iron zeal + unconquerable is a thing) whilst any casualties feed the pot just behind before feating.
My lists were:
Kallus Wrath of Everblight
Nephilim Protector
Nephilim Bolt thrower
Max Hex hunters
Max Legionnaires +  Farilor and standard
Max Gatorman posse
Max spawning vessel
Strider Rangers + UA
Deathstalker
Deathstalker
Spell Martyr
Spell Martyr

Vayl list was
Vayl Disciple of Everblight
Scythean
Scythean
Typhon
Ravagore
Raek
Raek
Forsaken
Forsaken
Shepherd
Sherpherd
Spawning vessel.

I only lost 2 games with these 2 lists both with Pvayl one in a mirror match and 1 into Runes of war. I had the most fun playing Kallus one game of note was vs fellow blogger Matt Best who was using EMorvanna. It was a game of real attrition where I felt I only won due to Matts inexperience with EMorv.


Sunday soon came round and I was feeling the burn by now I decided to play eThags and the twins then call it a day mid afternoon.

I've not played either of these 2 a great deal but felt most at home playing eThagrosh so played most of my games with him. I got lucky into beating a Cygnar player with Kraye (I cast manifest destiny and forgot to use it twice), Smashing poor Daves Trolls again this time with pGrimm. Only playing the twins once into a Fellew bunker member Luke's Bloody Barnabus list.

 My 2 lists were:
Thagrosh the Messsiah
Typhon
Scythean
Scythean
Seraph
Legionnaires + Farilor and standard
Spawning vessel
Forsaken
Shapherd

Saeryn and Rhyas Talons of Everblight
Zuriel
Scythean
Seraph
max Hex Hunters
max Raptors
Deathstalker
Deathstalker
Min Spawning vessel.



All in all it was a great weekend but that's it. The Legion are packed away in my man cave not to be opened until March 2017.

 For the next year I am going to be on a Khador adventure starting with playing Harkevich in the Bunkers escalation league.

Pigs... Life, Love and Errata

Well its been an interesting 12 months in my world of Warmachine and Hordes, 2014 ended with me quite dispondant with pigs, nothing was working or going my way... I started a Troll force in early 2015 but didnt really get on with them and my love for the game was at an all time low!

A few months later i convinced myself a new force was the way forward, enter Legion as was seen earlier in the blog... i really liked painting them (Very important to me) and enjoyed the play style of Vayl1 greatly. I played a number of games with them, including at a few tournies and started to win again and rekindle my love affair with the game.

Flash forwards to late 2015 and the release of Devastation; The Warlord, Splatter Boar, Battle Boar and Lynus & Edora are coming, the Meat Thresher and Effarit scouts are released and the low burning embers of pigdom begin to be stoked again...

The Warlord

 I love this guy! I really do, i have two of them in my current double Max Brigands Carver list and its doing very well at the moment. he is very much a model that needs playing rather than just looking at his card. If you can keep him safe long enough to get work out of gang then combined with the quagmire spell you create a credible answer to high def in pigs with mat10/11 brigands with PS12.

The Effarit Scouts

Unlike the Warlord, the value of these guys is immediately obvious by looking at the cards; High speed, high RAT and a great gun combined with light cavalry to run away gives them a myriad of uses... setting up finisher for rampaging Slaughterhousers for one, thinning out a flank of medium base guys like trolls and putting a dent into heavies is always handy.

The Meat Thresher

The Meat Thresher is a firm favourite of mine (I have and have used three haha), its not as good as the Sacral Vault thats a given but for pigs it provides another reasonable answer to high def infantry with its auto boosted attack rolls and knockdown. The gun can then get to work on what ever survives that! Admittedly it has to get there but brings a great target for Helga's Defenders Ward spell!

The praises of the Battle Boar and Splatter Boar have been sung enough on the various forums and by the fantastic Matter of Pact podcast team so i wont go into them... i do have a standing pre-order with the local shop for 8 Battle Boars and 4 Splatter Boars hehe.

A final note on the errata and the Splatter Boar; Now tagging a beast with the gas forces a threshold test which if they fail the beast will frenzy in the controllers next turn! This is a great turn out as it lets you ignore aspects of your opponents army knowing full well that they will be doing nothing for them haha

   

From druid to tyrant. Skorne for 2016.

Hello guys, It's Aaron here and I've made a bold choice. After playing Circle Orobos straight  for 4 years I've decided for 2016 it's time to shake it up. For me, 2016 is the year of the master race and Skorne. I'm super excited about the change and It's really breathed a breath of fresh air into the game for me. I was probably at about 150+ games with Kreuger2 as well as the usual culprits and as much as the game is my favorite game for me it was getting a little stagnant in my own play.

Mid november I took the plunge, and ordered my 2 Skorne lists which are as follows:

Makeda2
Molik Kahn
Bronzeback Titan
Titan Gladiator
Nilators (Max)
Swordsmen (Max)
Incindarii (Min)
Beast handlers (Min)
Willbreaker
Extoller

Paired with

Xerxis1 (Fist, Tier 2)
Archidon
Cetrati (Max)
Cetrati (Min) /w Vorkesh
Arcuarii (Min)
Arcuarii (Min)
Arcuarii (Min)
Incindiarii (Min)
Incindiarii (Min)
TyCom.

Right off the bat, I didn't spend ages crafting a pair in which I think is the most competitive pairing for Skorne, I didn't think about my pairings or what I can or can't play. I simply picked this stuff because A) It looked fun B) It's different to circle C) I liked the look of it. I love the look of the Skorne range and the models in the above lists have my favorite in it. I'm currently 33 games in with Skorne since mid November and darn are they a blast to play. These lists bring me a whole different game to circle, from extreme brute force, extremely long threat ranges, durable en mass multi wound infantry as well as weapon master infantry. I could not be enjoying the game more right now and with that buzz I've even picked up a brush and painted something, which for me is a big deal. I own the whole Circle Orobos faction painted, with enough models for every tier I have painted 20-30 models in it, I've either had it commissioned or bought it painted so for me to find that buzz to paint for my self is huge.

On that brush stroke, I thought I'd share some of my painting. I will be attending the Welsh nationals this year and that is a 3 list event in which I plan to bring Makeda2, Fist and Mordikaar. I'm yet to buy my Mordikaar list and won't do so until my first 2 lists are completed. I've started with Makeda2 and for the moment her battle group done.

Here is a WIP progress shot of my Bronzeback, I'm rarely content with my own painting but I'm super happy how this guy ended up so I thought I'd share him, more pictures of him to come! 

Next up is Molik Kahn, this guy was a pleasure to paint and I love the aesthetic of this model. It encapsulates everything in Skorne that I was looking for in the detail, look and presence of the model.

The last model in the battle group was my Titan gladiator, which was easy to make half good with a bit of dry brushing and a wash (Praise the lord for washes)

And lastly but not least Makeda2 her self, and a group shot of the whole gang.

I'm pretty happy with how they have come out, I'm under no illustion of my painting level (which is low, at best). A bit of dry brushing and washes have gone a long way and I'm happy these guys have got to a decent table top level.

That's it for this post! Next I'm going to be looking into my 3 list pairing for the Welsh Nationals, pulling that apart and hopefully discussing it with you all.

Thanks for reading, would love to see a photo of your guys current hobby project, or to discuss what yours plans for 2016 for the game.

Thanks again and see you again soon!