Day 2 of the Best of the Rest GT kicked off with a second Trident Realm Civil War! This time it’s crabs vs (jumping) sharks, up against the dude who would go on to win Best Sports – he got my #1 as well, thanks to him for being such a nice guy as well as meticulous player.

Trident Realm 2300

Riverguard Dambuster Horde – Brew of Sharpness
Riverguard Dambuster Horde
Riverguard Treeleaper Regiment
Riverguard Treeleaper Regiment
Riverguard Treeleaper Regiment
Riverguard Treeleaper Troop
Riverguard Treeleaper Troop
Kraken
Kraken
Knucker
Knucker
Riverguard Sentinel – Trickster’s Wand
Naiad Envoy – Bastion (2)

I had watched this army dismantle my first round opponent the Friday before the event, and yea, I’m a fan of it. Frogs are probably the most interesting troops in the Trident list these days, even with being able to disorder flying. Toads I’m not sold on, though ironically I was talking to Kara Brown the night before about how disappointing they are, and the conclusion was Me 3+ would go a long way to help make Dambusters real. Naturally this list has a big ol’ toad hammer that hits on 3+. Solid.

Oh right, Kraken Count [5] again.

Round 4 was Control. The Scuttlin’ Realm went first, prrrrrobably not by choice.

BATTLE

Battlelines! Enemy TR L2R: Knucker, River troop, River reg, Dam horde, River hero, River reg, River reg, Kraken, Kraken, Envoy, Dam horde (Me 3+ i.e. the gold shark), Knucker, River troop.

Crabs scuttle up. Krakens project force. Lamentably the right Gigas couldn’t toe that forest with their 5” move. That blank base next to the Water Elemental crab is a Kraken.

Sharks scooch forward, but mostly it’s about the Knuckers. The Kraken gets bastion and my own bastion Envoy gets hexed!

Scuttlin’ Turn 2. We do what we can to prepare for the Knuckers, but I know he’s going to do screwy things I won’t see coming. Envoy takes 2 damage from bastioning the left Gigas, and Heartpiercers stick 6 damage into a River reg and 3 onto the right Knucker.

Knuckers, engage! Left Gigas are flanked by a Knucker (for 7 damage), while the other noms 3 damage off of the right Hearpiercers, wavering them (!) The Riverguard Sentinel leaps on a central Heartpiercer reg, disordering it with 2 damage, and otherwise the shark line continues to play it cagey, save for the wounded regiment that jams the center alongside a bastioned Kraken.

Scuttlin’ Turn 3, and I should note that at this point we are both melting our clocks down with tight positioning and option weighing. Regardless, I eventually keep pressing the right (the Eternal is facing the River troop and where they might hop to), punch down in the center (to the tune of dead Riverguard reg and gently caressed Krakens, the white one having copped a Hearpiercer harpoon), and bait the left with Heartpiercers (who also shoot and waver the leftmost River troop). The Gigas ultimately did not counter their flanking Knucker, preferring to backup out of the Dambuster’s charge and just accept another round of being flanked. With their massive base, turning to face would have invited a whole lot of toady attention.

Also the Heartpiercers fighting the Sentinel began wrecking him, as is their want.

Sharks pounce on the left but wow do they meet with some tough luck. Riverguard reg and Dambuster horde leap on the Heartpiercers in the woods, but 7 damage later they’re only wavered. The Sentinel swaps to the Gigas to help out the Knucker, however it’s another waver despite 13 damage – and these crabs conveniently have fury! More Riverguard jump into the central Heartpiercers, wavering them as well on 4 damage.

In the center, the Kraken actually disengages from the Water Elementals, as the other one goes to pressure the right flank. The Awesome Dambuster horde continues to back away from my right Kraken.

Scuttlin’ Turn 4. With less than 30 minutes left in the round, I tell him I’ve really enjoyed the match but have to play a little dumber now – basically I decide to throw the game away on a couple poor risks instead of waiting for us to clock out in a draw or minor win to him.

Anyway, time to go aggro! Kraken on the left rears and kills the Knucker in the Gigas’ flank, while they counter and waver the Sentinel. Friendly Heartpiercers shoot the sharks messing with their wavered buddies on the hill, for 2 damage. Kraken in the center combo-charges the bastioned enemy Kraken with the Water Elementals, and while they do a solid 12 damage, a double 8 rout test is too much. Finally, the right Kraken and Gigas go into the other enemy Kraken, doing a couple dice of damage but evidently failing to even waver it. In related news, the Heartpiercers on the right wound the remaining Knucker but narrowly miss even wavering it.

Jumping sharks everywhere! On the left, the Heartpiercers in the forest are charged by a River reg + River troop, the Gigas by the (Me 4+) Dambusters, and hill Heartpiercers by the other River reg. In the center, the Water Elementals are countered by the purple Kraken. On the right, the Gigas take white Kraken and Awesome Dambusters in the front, and the Kraken receives River troop in the flank and Knucker in the rear.

It’s, uh, super effective. All targets die, except for the Water Elementals and the hill Heartpiercers, who are wavered again. 830 point swing! Also: Kraken Count [4]

Scuttlin’ Turn 5, with minutes on the clock (this pic is from the first seconds of Sharktopus Turn 5, when the white Kraken went ham). I floor it for the scenario, sending the Eternal hard into the back right corner; the central Kraken charges, devours and overruns his Envoy; and the left Kraken backs up onto the fence to keep all them flying sharks in his front arc. Some Heartpiercers flank the Riverguard on the hill but can’t work any magic despite 5 damage total. The right Heartpiercers try to blast off the River troop but 2 damage isn’t enough. Finally, Water Elementals in the center slap that purple Kraken back to 10 damage but no lucky 9 pop.

With seconds left, the sharks have a go at the left Kraken (8 damage, no result), his white Kraken rear and devour the flanking Heartpiercers, Riverguard reg + troop mob and devour the hill Heartpiercers, and Awesome Dambusters pounce and devour the right Heartpiercers. The Water Elementals take a bunch of damage – Sentinel in their flank now – but hold. He clocks out.

Scuttlin’ Turn 6 (seen here), I use my last seconds to juke the central Kraken into an uncontested zone and then swing into the central Kraken and Riverguard reg down in the lower left. No lucky routs in either case, ensnare sucks, but that was just for attrition, he’s got this 5:3 or maybe 4:3 depending on where that Knucker is at.

SCUTTLIN’ LOSS (6-15)

 A really enjoyable, cagey game that I don’t feel too bad about going ham on. Adam was a very gracious opponent with a very cool list, and I’m inspired to do something sorta similar, with multiple combat units, including punchy troops, and really try to work some careful positioning. Also first time I’ve clocked out O_O

Up Next: Empire of Dust

Bottom table, baby! After getting housed by the Green Lady’s lackeys, my crabs plummeted to Table #22 to face off against some other downtrodden fish people. Coincidentally Table #21 also had a Trident Realm army on it, meaning that between the three of us we’d gotten 3 points total in Round 1. Gooooo Trident!

Trident Realm 2300

Naiad Ensnarer Horde – Liliana’s Tear
Gigas Horde
Depth Horror Horde – Healing Brew
Placoderm Regiment
Placoderm Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Thuul Regiment
Tidal Swarm Regiment
Tidal Swarm Regiment
Kraken
Kraken
Knucker
Thuul Mythican – Wings of Honeymaze
Naiad Envoy – Bastion (2)
Naiad Envoy

One of the awesome things about playing alongside the US Masters was seeing armies and players I know from the internet – and it’s even cooler to get to scrum against them! This round I faced the dude who runs the Unt l Somebody Loses An Eye, who I had just that morning been talking to about Wyrd’s game The Other Side. I really love his army and how much Mantic he crammed in there by thinking laterally and using Nameless from Warpath, and his big bads are great minis and BIG. Comp-wise it seemed good, certainly more balanced than mine but nowhere near the amount of shooting. ALSO:

KRAKEN COUNT = 5

Round 2 was Push, and the Scuttlers went first again, probably not by choice.

BATTLE

*crab sounds* Lots of advancing. Kraken play it cagey, content to project force, or at least the threat of it. My tokens are in the left Gigas (x2) and the left Kraken near the house; his are all in the central Ensnarer horde (x3). Heartpiercers ventilate a scouted Tidal Swarm for first blood.

*gribble sounds* Cautious response from Cthulhu and friends. Most relevant note is the Knucker begin to work that flank but not stepping into those right woods.

Central Gigas scoop up the central token and prepare to flex hard – tho Ensnarers and Placoderms aren’t the smashiest units, Thuul are lurking nearby. Lots of positioning happened on the flanks, inviting him to break the standoff, while Heartpiercers unload into the Depth Horrors hard left (5 damage) and the Tidal Swarm middle (1 damage).

The Gribble Realms let ‘er rip in the center, sending Ensnarers and Placos into Gigas for a proper anvil-off, with that annoying Tidal Swarm getting in the way of Kraken vengeance. His flanks increase the pressure, presenting me with plenty of bad options. Gigas hold easily (3 damage). The Depth Horrors also ate their healing brew.

Turn 3, time to take a risk (Spoiler: risks very rarely pay off with TR!) Gigas + Heartpiercers + Water Elementals slam into the central Placoderms, looking for that pop-n-spin. More Heartpiercers charge that Tidal Swarm, while yet more Heartpiercers riddle the Depth Horrors with harpoons, routing them. The right Kraken takes a deep breath and makes sure all those big bases are in his front arc, while the left Kraken (still with a token) invites the other Placoderms to have a go.

Anyway, that big combat in the middle doesn’t work out. Loads of damage (10+) but can’t land the double rout. Sad times ahead, gents. Those Hearpiercers totally rock the swarm tho.

Here we go! Thuul regiments mob the Water Elementals, with some Placoderm support for good measure. A Kraken slams into my right Kraken, with Knucker ready to toss in next turn. The Ensnarers have a go at the central Gigas, and those other Placoderm head in to poke at the left Kraken. His Gigas and Cthulhu-kraken head towards the center.

The Water Elementals are shredded by the Thuul wave, but other damage is negligible.

Scuttlin’ Turn 4, the grind increases, with some fortunate flanks. The central Gigas + Heartpiercers counter-charge their Placoderms, finishing them. The right Kraken grabs the flank of some Thuul, devouring them (this may have been a mistake? Or he expected to at least waver my Kraken but did the combats in the wrong order?) On the left, my other Gigas grab the flank of his other Placoderm, shattering them with the Kraken’s help in the front (this was certainly a mistake, he looked pretty crestfallen after missing that flank). The central Kraken mashed into the Ensnarers for respectable damage (6?) but whatever.

In shooting, Heartpiercers rock his Gigas, wavering them.

Gribble Realms options are dwindling, but there’s still mayhem to be had. Ensnarers counter-charge the central Kraken, Cthulhu + Thuul thunder into some poor Heartpiercers, and the right Kraken facetanks a Kraken + Knucker.

Those Heartpiercers turn to jelly, but otherwise Kraken hold like the towering anvils they are.

Scuttlin’ Turn 5, check out that big horde-sized hole … Gigas + Kraken in the front and another titan in the flank splatters the Ensnarer horde, and leaves one Kraken loaded up with 4 (!) tokens. My other Kraken swings into the Knucker, because at least it can’t regen? But he wavers it anyway! Beast.

In non-Kraken news, the central Gigas back up 3” after combat but can’t escape Lord Cthulhu … And my other Gigas charge and dismember an Envoy, shortly after 30 Heartpiercer rounds waver his Gigas again. Man, I hate when my Gigas waver too.

Kraken violence continues, as my central Gigas are charged by Thuul and flanked by Cthulhu, and my beleaguered right Kraken is flanked by his other Kraken. While the Gigas crunch beneath Cthulhu’s feet (who scoops up their token), my Kraken survives on 14 damage! Wavered but still holding, which was his only goal this game. Also his Gigas rotate to face their destructor.

Scuttlin’ Turn 6, scenario time go! The Kraken carting around 4 tokens plows into the enemy half, while the other central Kraken gets out of LOS but prepares to punish if there’s a Turn 7. My right Kraken furiously regenerates 8 damage and keeps looking at the Knucker in a show of disrespect for his Kraken. Then Heartpiercers pincushion Cthulhu but he cares not for their barbs.

In what would be the end of the game, Cthulhu and his Thuul minions pounded into some Hearpiercers but honestly I think they held. I don’t have a shot of it, however I think my hero Kraken on the right finally ate it. (KRAKEN COUNT = 4)

SCUTTLIN’ WIN (17-4)

BUT with so many tokens on his half (5!) this was a pretty serious win for the Scultting Realm. The flanks he offered up in Turn 4 certainly helped, but I’mma give credit to my right Kraken holding up his own titanic flank for FAR longer than he ought to have. I was far more patient than I usually am – I mean, not in that middle combat I guess, tho it wasn’t massively risky – and his delay really gave me the time I needed to wreck the flank and center.

Up Next: Dwarfs