The Aftermath

I got to play a mixed WARMACHINE/HORDES tournament last Saturday at the UPCFA hangar. The tournament was organized by Arvin Tan of Fortress/Pitshop. The tournament followed rules for Steam Roller 3 and Prime Remix missions.

I had hoped that there would be good exposure of the hobby since it was UPCFA week, but it did not happen as the tourney date was moved from a Friday (the supposed last day of the UPCFA week) to a Saturday (week-long event was already over).

Anyway, I intended still to give my ace game nonetheless. This time around, I tried using list with a warjack. And the Behemoth no less! I'm pretty much known of using jack-less lists, but I went on ahead and just enjoyed my games. Here's the list that I used:

Vladimir Tzepesci, Dark Prince of Umbrey
Behemoth
Man-O-War Drakhun
Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Kapitan and 4 Demolishers)
Iron Fang Pikemen (Kapitan, Standard Bearer, Sergeant and 5 Pikemen)
Manhunter

My first match was against Doclance (Laurence Tan). The scenario was Prime Remix's Crossed Lines, something that we at the bunker have already tried playing several times. And all those times, I never won. And all those times, it was against Cryx's Deneghra. So when Doclance brought out his minis from his case, surprise surprise, Dirty D! Vlad came up with Blood of Kings on but a hail of debuffs (Withering, Crippling Grasp, Helldiver's Sinkhole) made the Dark Prince a mewling kitten against a line of Bile Thrall Purges. No excuses on that one, save for that I know very little playing against Cryx. Continuous playing should remedy that.

My second match was against Pork and Ashlynn D'Elysse in a Pendulum scenario. Getting first turn, I had rushed all my models towards the center line. When Pork pushed up his force, Ashlynn was out in the open. With Signs and Portents, the Behemoth two-hand threw the Drakhun (via a diluted version of the Khadoran Pegasus). Drakhun charged Ashlynn, at the time was sitting on just four focus. Rolling 3 attacks for Flying Steel, the Drakhun successfully brought down the Highborn warcaster on his second attack.

The match was relatively over fast so EJ and I got to play a quick in-between game with his Coleman Stryker. The game was pretty evenly-matched but I had to throw in the towel because the next game had to start then.

My third match was against Fluffy with his Harbinger of Menoth in Divide and Conquer. It was then that I was served an annoying Protectorate combo, which pretty much centered on Harbinger's Martyrdom spell. I tried bringing down Vilmon, but I found out that even under Martyrdom he cannot be knocked down if he had a Paladin of the Wall in base contact. So I decided on pounding down the Paladin instead, which greatly injured Harbinger. But alas on his turn, all that damage was wiped away with focus healing and Doc Killingsworth. Seeing that I would not be able to repeat all that, and seeing an opportunity that Harbinger was on empty focus, I allocated three focus on the Behemoth's sub cortex and sent it walking with Vlad's Forced March through the center woods (and surviving Vilmon's free strike in the process - 1 damage box only). Signs and Portents plus a (what I had just discovered it was called) "god hand roll" (6, 6, 6 and 5) promptly put the Menite warcaster away.

My last match was against Jake and Major Siege Brisbane in a Moshpit scenario. Again I surged at the center but with key models under Vlad's Wind Wall. I had rendered his Ironclad crippled early, removing its legs. The Behemoth proved to be my MVP again, aiming away at Brisbane even with all his anti-range spells. Jake retaliated at the Behemoth but only damaged column 6 which spilled to column 1, not too effective. Again with Signs and Portents and focus, the Behemoth hailed down on the Cygnaran warcaster for the win.

More thoughts: I sorely missed using Widowmakers all throughout my five games. Looks like they'll be my obligatory American Express. The Behemoth's performance was surprising though. In 500 pointage matches, it is a heavy points sink but it does so many things in a round that it's pretty much alright. I would have hated if it got hit by Crippling Grasp or Ice Cage though LOL!