GAME 20: OGRES

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Final round up against our TO Jesse, a dude I knew from Master Crafted Gaming batreps (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpUodTbAv0XfqvwwG2cBHuA/videos?disable_polymer=1) and who my clubmates ran into at Keystone GT not too long ago. All around great/funny guy playing a balanced and unexpectedly strong Ogre list.

BLOODFIRE GAME 20: OGRES

Salamanders 2000

Fire Elemental Horde – Brew of Haste
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Fire Elemental Horde
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ember Sprite Regiment
Ankylodon Battle Platform – firebolts
Herald on Raptor – Diadem of Dragonkind
Herald on Raptor – Healing Charm
Mage-Priest – Surge (8), Heal (3)
Clan Lord on Fire Drake – Banner of the Griffin

Ogres 2000

Warriors Horde
Warriors Horde
Siege Breakers Horde – Cat Potion
Siege Breakers Horde
Boomers Horde
Boomers Horde
Red Goblin Scouts Troop
Red Goblin Scouts Troop
Army Standard – Banner of the Griffin
Army Standard
Army Standard
Sweaty Gigante

Third round was Occupy, with Sallies once more going first! Shamble army says yes please! (Admittedly going first wasnt the best idea in 2/3 of these matchups, but as they all involved moving I was happy to oblige.)

BATTLE

Deployment is central-right, with the left objective ignored. I thought about sending some Sprites to grab it late game, but decided Id rather they did something in the game itself. Griffin Bearer is the double flag behind the Siege Breakers.

The red wall trundles forward. I expected him to clear chaff next turn, plus was curious what hed do with his Scouts on the right.

The flesh wall trundles forward. Boomers chunk into the central Sprites, wavering both units and stalling the fires advance. The Scouts double charge the speedy right Fire horde, doing appreciable damage but for naught.

Largely stuck in the center, the only real action is on the right, where one unit of Scouts is baked to death by the speedy Fire horde and the other is wavered by Sprite shooting. The speedy horde is healed a bunch, and the left Boomers suffer the CLOFDs breath, though without even being wavered.

The Ogres continue to press the issue, getting the Boomers closer while setting up traps should the red hordes get stuck. The Giant goes aggro and bops a couple wounds on the speedy Fire horde but whatever. Shortly before which one unit of Boomers clears out the left Sprites, and the other rips into the central Fire horde, shredding 11 damage into them (with 18 shots!). Thankfully they cant land the rerolled 7 to break them. Whew!

Suffering under the Boomer barrage and needing to act, the left Fire hordes power into Warriors and Boomers respectively, as the right Fire horde countercharges the Giant and Sprites get in the way of Siege Breakers. The Goblin Scouts were purposefully left alone this turn, so they would remain in the way of the Siege Breakers.

While damage is spread around – including breath attaks into the right Boomers – nothing results save for wavering the left Boomers.

The Ogres keep the mayhem going: Warriors countercharge the left Fire horde, more Warriors flank the deeply-wounded central horde, Scouts pounce on the third horde and the Giant countercharges the speedy horde. While the central Fire horde predictably goes down, damage is otherwise relatively light, with the Giant completely fluffing. The CLOFD cops a couple wounds from the right Boomers as well.

More fighting! The left and right Fire hordes countercharge their dance partners, though the third horde chooses not to countercharge the Scouts, to keep them in between the Breakers for another turn (this was an overthinking mistake on my part). The riskiest move was sending the Ankylodon into the wounded Boomers, as I was relying on 8 hindered attaks to land at least one wound and pop the Boomers, allowing the ABP to reform and not be flanked by things with CS that hit good. The plan also required at least wavering the other Boomer horde with shooting, which thankfully the CLOFD + Sprites were able to do, despite hitting on 5+. Combats work out, with the Boomers and Warrior both dying. The Giant is wavered but Fury dont care. And the Scouts gumming up the right flank are wavered from shooting (I guess I hoped to clear and charge in my next turn? However charging now and charging then would have worked too).

Around this time the Diadem Herald had worked his way around the left flank, incinerating the leftmost Army Standard ❤

Hindered Warriors and Army Standard hit the Ankylodon, doing two points of damage, of which the big beastie heals one from Iron Resolve. On the right the Giant figures out how clubs work and hammers the speedy Horde but no lucky rout.

The Sallies turn the heat up and brutalize the Ogre army, with the left Warriors disappearing under a Fire horde flank attak (the Ankylodon helped), the Giant burned to cinders and the Scouts finally ended, forcing the Breakers over there to make a choice. Happily the Boomers are also routed, thanks to a sterling round of vomit from the CLOFD.

At this point things feel pretty great. Its Turn 5, with just two Siege Breaker hordes and two Army Standards left up against a lot more red than Im used to. Clearly I didnt know what Siege Breakers are capable of O_O

Cat Siege Breakers charge the Ankylodon and the less-wounded Fire horde on the right, with their Army Standards flanking the Ankylodon and blocking the rightmost Fire horde. While the ABP takes 7 wounds, hes able to survive the rout test. This is not the case for the Fire horde, which is absolutely jellied in one go.

Sally 6 is a scramble that has the left Siege Breakers slammed by Ankylodon + Fire while the right Siege Breakers are fed some Sprites to keep them occupied (and available to be shot). The Diadem Herald is only able to waver the left Breakers Army Standard, meaning that despite taking 11 points of damage the central Breakers dont go down. On the right, breath from the CLOFD + Sprites is unable to dent the other Breakers, and the Fire horde only wavers their Army Standard in combat.

The right Siege Breakers obliterate the last of the Sprites, securing a secondary objective, as the left Siege Breakers erase their Fire horde, securing another secondary objective. With no Turn 7, the Ankylodon contented himself with securing the primary objective and calling it a draw.

BLOODFIRE DRAW

All told three good games, and Im always happy to go 50%. Mantic provided prizes for the top three, which included me! I walked away with a Forge Father Sturnhammer, which Im actually very excited to use as an APC in Necromunda. Though thats a topic for another batrep thread . . .

GAME 19: DWARFS

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Another round, another clubmate. In this case Senator Rossi, who I havent played in over a year Id reckon?

BLOODFIRE GAME 19: DWARFS

Salamanders 2000

Dwarfs 2000

Berserkers Troop
Ironclad Horde – [Magic Item?]
Ironguard Regiment – CS1/D5
Ironguard Regiment – CS1/D5
Earth Elemental Horde
Berserker Brock Riders Regiment – [Magic Item?]
Ironbelcher Organ Gun
Ironbelcher Organ Gun
Army Standard Bearer – Diadem of Dragon-king
Army Standard Bearer – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
King – Wings of Honeymaze
Stone Priest – Bane Chant (2), Banner of the Griffin?
Battle Driller
Battle Driller
Greater Earth Elemental

There are 45 spare points, which Im guessing were items on the Ironclad and the Brock Riders, as there are plenty of good ones they might have had. Anyway props to Rossi on sticking with Dwarfs and trying to make mostly-infantry work – in the past hes done the gyrocopters as Elohi thing, and I know hes fighting against going back to that.

Second round was Push, with Sallies going first again.

BATTLE

Deployment sees a flank denied, as the Bloodfire does. Wondering how often its the left flank I ignore, because it seems like most of the time. Push tokens are on the left Ironguard, the Earth Elementals and the Ironclad; and the Ankylodon, central Earth Sprites, and rightmost Fire Elementals.

Roll out! Redementals scoot forward, trying to stick to cover where able. The central Fire horde is surged forward a few inches, because I already know theyre a target.

Dwarfs shuffle forward a bit, knowing theyre outpaced nearly across the board. And the Brocks hold still, not wanting to start absorbing breath damage when they dont need to. Organ Gun fire plinks off a couple wounds from the leading Fire hordes.

Sallies reach that 12 standoff band with the Dwarfs. Exploratory breath attaks cant get much purchase in D6 rockementals 😐

With a resounding cry of YOLO! the Dwarf line slams forward, with the Earth Elementals hitting the bait Sprites and the Brocks thundering off their hill into the token-bearing Fire horde, plus the flying King bopping the Healing Herald.

The Sprites evaporate, as do the Fire Elementals (which was a bit surprising to me, given the 4+ and 4+ they needed per wound, although the Dwarven rout dice were definitely hot all game). The Herald also wavers, on a rerolled 11! The central Fire horde also copped more shooting damage from the Organ Guns.

With the battleline getting cramped and not enough Dwarfs dying, things get a big drastic for the Sallies. The Ankylodon flanks the Greater Earth along with Fire Elementals in the front, with the understanding that hes screwed if this doesnt work. Meanwhile Fire hordes go into the Ironclad to begin the grind and the right Ironguard to hopefully break through next round. To protect their flank the Diadem Herald tosses himself in front of the Brocks, offset to pull them to the side when they align. Breath attaks lay a little damage into the Brocks but their nerve is far higher than I remember.

The Ankylodons gambit pays off and the GGE is reduced to rubble, and happily the Ironguard fall to the speedy Fire horde as well, letting them scoot past the arc of the Brocks. Even more unexpectedly, the central Fire horde is able to waver the Ironclad! Headstrong or not, thats pretty sweet.

[We then went into his turn and forgot the lucky waver on the Ironclad, which resulted in a lot of carnage and so on until I went and spotted his headstrong token. He failed the headstrong roll and, being an absolutely gent, we reset the game based on my photos ]

Despite these setbacks the Dwarfs shoulder on, as they do. Earth Elementals piled into the waiting Ankylodon (for little result) and the Brocks ran over the poor Diadem Herald. A battle driller had a shot at the hasty Fire horde for a lark and the King continued to harass the Healing Herald. The Dwarven left flank crept closer and Guns tried for 6+ to hit vs something red.

That failed headstrong on the Ironclad is punished to the full extent when the Dwarven horde receives Fire Elementals in the front and the flank, as the speedy Fire horde smashes through a Battle Driller and follows into the Ironclad. They die. The Ankylodon faffs away at the Earth Elementals (his 4+ to hit being way harder to deal with then their D6) and the Brocks take another breath bath from the CLOFD, but likewise dont care.

The Dwarf answer by hitting the speedy Fire horde with Brocks (tons of damage but no rout); flanking the Ankylodon with bane chanted Berserkers + Earth Elementals in the front (the Serkers roll insanity and the ABP is toppled); and shooting the hell out of the central Fire horde (popping it). Brutal stuff. Also note that the King has been chasing the Healing Herald around all this time, bopping him for a single wound to disorder him.

Sally 5 sees the flanking Ironguard finally engaged by a Fire horde, the Earth Elementals receive some breath loving (for all the good it did), and the speedy Fire horde punch the Brocks, who still refuse to rout.

The Dwarfs drop the hammer once more, double teaming the left Fire horde, running over some Sprites and dispersing the speedy right Fire horde. Somehow the left Fire horde survives the (hindered) Berserker blender in the flank! And the CLOFD is wavered after suffering focused Organ Gun shelling.

Sally 6, the last Fire horde pounds into the Ironguard, triumphantly claiming their token.

Dwarf 6 sees the Fire horde extinguished by the Berserkers and a lot of stuff made dead – I think the King killed the Mage-Priest this turn, after a lucky 10 reroll on the Healing Herald the turn before. Well ahead on tokens, Turn 7 would have simply given the Dwarfs a chance to table the Sallies by shooting the CLOFD to death, but the extra turn die said no.

BLOODFIRE LOSS

GAME 18: VARANGUR

On November 28, 2018November 28, 2018 By SalvageIn BLOODFIRELeave a comment

Back with another handful of quickie Salamander reports! November 18^th I drove down to Philadelphia to hangout at PAX Unplugged and throwdown in the KOW tournament going on that Saturday. Originally it was supposed to be four games with a 20 person cap but for whatever reasons it ended up just being me, two clubmates from Albany, and the TO (a great dude Im happy to see going to more NE events). So we cut it down to just three games, which suited me fine, as I was able to get in a little vendor time and drive home early.

BLOODFIRE GAME 18: VARANGUR + NIGHT-STALKERS

Salamanders 2000

Originally I had wanted to change things up and start running double Mage-Priests, but I wasnt about to go into a tournament with a list Id never played – one I hadnt played for a few months was bad enough!

Varangur + Night-Stalkers 2000

Warband Regiment – Banner of the Griffin
Warband Regiment – Brew of Courage
The Fallen Horde – Helm of the Ram
Tundra Wolves Troop
Mounted Sons of Korgaan Regiment – Cat Potion, gift of the warrior
Horse Raiders Troop – bows
Magus Conclave – famulus
King on Chimera – Brew of Haste, gift of the warrior
Skald – Lute of Insatiable Darkness
+
Fiends Horde
Void Lurker

The two monsters I respect most in the game right now are probably Kings on Chimeras and Void Lurkers, and this list has them in a tagteam O_O I also was shocked at how mediocre Warbands are, although they are pretty cheap for their stats, so I suppose it works out.

First round was Invade, with Sallies grabbing first!

BATTLE

Deployment sees a flank denied, as is typical for the Bloodfire.

After Sally Turn 2, the red battleline prepares to receive chargers. Not counting the rightmost Sprites, who got eaten by Wolves, who then were barfed on and destroyed by more Sprites.

Boom! The Varangur elite crash into the elemental host. The Fire horde facing Mounted Sons + Void Lurker explode in a shower of fiery gore, however the King finds himself stuck after his solo venture into a neighboring horde. On the left flank the Horse Raiders begin a long grind in the woods vs some very tenacious Ember Sprites.

Retaliation is brutal, with the Void Lurker ignored in favor of hitting the Sons with CLOFD + ABP and smashing the King with a Fire countercharge to the front and surge charge to the flank. The Sons are smacked around (wavered but whatever) and the King is melted to slag under 54 CS2 cuddles.

The Varangur head in again, this time punching in their flankers – Fiends (hindered) + Fallen into a Fire horde, Warband + Raiders into their own obnoxious Sprites. The Void Lurker makes contact with the Kings Fire horde (which had been rather significantly healed at this point) and the Sons countercharge the CLOFD. Despite putting out a lot of hurt none of the Salamander targets go down, including a cheeky snake eyes on the central Sprites holding up the Warbands. Importantly the leftmost Sprites take no wounds from the Horse Raiders.

Last turns lucky nerve roles are particularly nasty as they let a Fire horde flank the first Warband reg, followed by countercharges on the Fallen (ignoring the Fiends to keep them hindered), the Void Lurker and the Sons. Plus the free Ember Sprites questing for the Magus Conclaves heads. And on the deep left flank those pesky Sprites combine fire with the Diadem Herald to cook the Raiders.

After combats, the Sons have been devoured by the Bloodfire heavies, the first Warband is toast, the Fallen are wavered, and the Void Lurker remains unmoved.

As is typical for Fire Elementals, the following turn sees most of them burn out. A hindered flank from the Fiends finishes the leftmost horde and the Void Lurker ends what the King started.

It must be a Bloodfire late game with so few red things on the board. The surviving Fire horde shoots the gap into the Fallen, the CLOFD takes matters into his own hands and stomps into the Void Lurker, and the hero-mode Sprites charge the Magus Conclave. With the exception of the CLOFD, things work out great: the Conclave is devoured by Ember Sprites, the Fallen are beaten to a pulp, and, unexpectedly, the Diadem Herald manages to waver the uninjured Fiends with a ridiculous display of dice!

Varangur 5 sees the surviving Warband shove for the enemy half of the board, and the Void Lurker waver the CLOFD. The end is nigh!

Sally 6 is largely spent sending a Magmadroth into the front of the Warband (no result) and making sure unit strength is on the enemy side. Annnnd the Diadem Herald killing the Fiends with another stunner of a breath roll ❤

In Varangur 6, the Void Lurker chops down the CLOFD and the Skald powers up for what could be a game tying throw. If he can hit and wound the last Fire horde with his throwing axe the game will be a tie! He hits! He fails to wound!

BLOODFIRE VICTORY