So we re-racked and went again, this time my opponent had a nasty Mordikaar list for me.
Mordikaar
-Tiberion
-Gladiator
-Cannoneer
-Despoiler
Max Bloodrunners
Min Beasthandlers
2x Void Spirits
Paingiver Master Tormenter
Mortithurge Willbreaker
Extoller Soulward
I played the same Wurmwood list, which was, for reference:
Wurmwood, Tree of Fate
-Cassius, the Oathkeeper
-Warpwolf Stalker
-Megalith
-Gorax Rager
Max Brigands and CA
Min Bone Grinders
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Sentry stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gallows Grove
Lanyssa Ryssyl
We played the same scenario, and I got to go first this time! Which meant giving up the good side of the table sadly. I took the top half this time as my opponent wanted the wall for Mordikaar to hide behind.
I deployed first. My plan for this game was to again abuse the forest as long as possible to keep Wurmwood safe.
And my opponent deployed pretty centrally as well. Prey went onto Despoiler.
Circle turn 1:
I was going to do the cheeky Sentry Stone trick here and try my best to kill his Master Tormentor on my first turn. The trick is you kill your own Mannikin, place it 6" up the table when the Sentry activates, advance it five, port the stone up five, and then spray 8 for a total range of 6+5+1+8 = 20 inches of threat (the one inch is the size of his base). The AD lines are only 19 inches apart, so this can really swing games early if you want to go for it.
Unfortunately, both sets of stones only rolled one for fury, and I was unable to connect with both sprays, leaving him on a couple boxes.
Most everything else ran, the Bone Grinders killed eachother for souls and corpses (placed them better this game).
Wurmwood got teleported into the zone.
Skorne turn 1:
Bloodrunners aparate.
Mordikaar activates and casts Hollow on the Bloodrunners, and they charge and kill a few Mannikins.
Void Spirits run to opposite sides of the table. I have to be really careful about these guys since they can and will chew through entire units with killing spree thanks to Mordikaar's elite cadre (move an inch and make an attack every time they kill something), void walk, which allows them to teleport 8 inches once per turn when they kill something, and an innate ability that gives them an additional dice to hit and damage against living models.
The Cannoneer moves up and blasts the painted Sentry Stone in the middle for 5 damage. The Gladiator and Tiberion move to the left, and Despoiler moves into the right zone.
Critically, the Beast Handlers all shift far right. The Mortitheurge gives the Bloodrunners tough.
Circle turn 2:
Wurmwood pulls in fury and goes to ten, and I make a few Shamblers with the Bokur.
Sentry Stones activate and spray down a few Bloodrunners and the Master Tormentor.
The Brigands activate and move up, five getting range to the preyed Despoiler. They roll pretty much average (POW 14 to ARM 18 = about 3 per) and do 15 damage to the beast before repositioning. I made a grave blunder here and didn't contest with more than two models this turn.
The Shamblers all run.
Cassius runs up to within 10 of both titans on the left, and Wurmwood then fails to Stranglehold Tiberion, successfully casts Stranglehold on the Gladiator, and then casts Dark Path to bring Cassius back to him. He then puts a forest down right next to the Void Spirit with Wild Growth.
Megalith tramples up and casts Stranglehold at Tiberion once more, and also fails to damage him. Uh oh.....
The Stalker runs into the zone, 11.2 inches from Tiberion and chills there. Lanyssa also runs up.
The front Shifting Stone unit ports Wurmwood to the back Shifting Stone unit.
Skorne turn 2:
My opponent gets 11 fury this turn from his Bloodrunners souls thanks to Hollow, which he upkeeps.
Despoiler charges the Mannikin in the center of the right zone and kills it. The Bloodrunners kill a couple of Brigands, making a Void Spirit where the Brigand contesting the zone was, proxied by an Agonizer.
It charges and kills a Brigand, teleports next to the Gallows grove and whiffs his damage roll (2,2,1).
The Gladiator casts Rush on Tiberion, and advances into the left zone. Tiberion charges Megalith, ending right next to the Gallows Grove so he can use his weaker initials on it.
He fails to kill Megalith, only because the Beast Handlers weren't in range to enrage him (told you that would be important!) but slaughters the poor Gallows Grove and leaves Megalith on 7.
The Cannoneer shoots the right Sentry Stone and cranks the damage to kill it, and Mordikaar shoots the left Sentry Stone, kills it, casts Revive a couple of times to bring back Bloodrunners, and feats, which gives all faction models in his control range +3 DEF and Poltergeist.
The right Void Spirit runs at me, and he scores a point.
Score 0-1
Advantage Skorne
Circle turn 3:
I don't like being behind on scenario under Mordikaar's feat turn. I think I can kill Despoiler though, which would be a big deal indeed.
I don't upkeep the 4" forest, and Wurmwood gets 8 fury this turn (the Gallows Grove is a living model and gives me a soul).
The plan here is to kill the Gladiator, bang up Tiberion a bunch, and dominate the zone for 2.
The Shamblers activate and advance. The Bokur uses his magic ability on the Gladiator, boosting to hit with a Shambler and lands it, making him stationary.
Lanyssa moves up and casts Hunters Mark at it, hitting.
The Stalker warps strength, charges the Gladiator for free, kills it with a few attacks and casts Lightning Strike on himself to sprint back into the zone.
Cassius wanders over and boosts hit and damage on the Void Spirit, murdering him.
The Bone Grinder crafts Wurmwood a talisman, and then the Shifting Stones teleport him back into the zone. He activates, casts and boosts a Curse of Shadows at Tiberion and hits. He then feats, making a huge forest.
Megalith heals for 3, and walks towards Tiberion. He boosts the first hit to ensure Weight of Stone connects (Megalith's weapons give -3 DEF and SPD to anything he hits). It does, and Megalith pounds Tiberion down to about 10 boxes in his body system, crippling mind and spirit.
The Brigands advance, two aim, and they shoot Despoiler to death before repositioning to contest the zone. The Shifting Stones around Wurmwood in the zone port to get Megalith and the Stalker in range in case Megalith survives so that they can healing field and pull fury.
I score two points.
Score 2-1
Advantage Circle
(Megalith is where the proxy base is, not where his model is, and that's a Void Spirit, not an agonizer)
Skorne turn 3:
My opponents dice fail him slightly here, he misses one too many Brigands, and so has to use a lot of Mordikaar's fury to kill them. He uses his last two to cast the spell that gives his battlegroup ghostly so that Tiberion can get into the zone and contest.
Tiberion walks into the zone and hits Megalith. He misses his first attack needing a 3 on one dice, and then he misses his second. He connects with his third, but without the ability to boost, the single PS 14 just re-cripples Megaliths mind and Spirit. His Void Spirit on the right chews through some dudes and then fails to hit Lanyssa.
My opponent scores two points.
Score 2-3
Advantage Skorne
Circle turn 4:
I'm in big trouble here, despite being massively up on the attrition game. My opponent is at 3 points and I can only contest with 3 brigands. Out of desperation, I measure 8 inches from Megalith's base to the other zone and he can in fact get teleported into it. That's not going to do much though since he's on 6 health and that's a fully powered titan over there.
Shamblers make another dude, and my turn starts after I upkeep Curse of Shadows and pull a fury from each beast with the Shifting Stones.
I think long and hard about this, and then realize that I can run the Stalker into the Stones where Megalith currently is if I can kill Tiberion. Then I realize that his titan can just slam me out of it if I go for that. Then I realize that Megalith can cast Stranglehold at him if I can get him within 3" of the edge of the forest.
Megalith activates, heals for 2 and advances next to Tiberion. His first 2 attacks kill him. He then casts Stranglehold at the Cannoneer, boosting the damage when it connects. It successfully damages him, so the Stalker runs to the edge of that Shifting Stone unit and gets teleported into the zone.
Cassius walks back over, boosts hit and damage on the Void Spirit in front of Wurmwood, and kills it.
The Shamblers kill the remaining Beast Handler in the zone, and my Brigands try and fail to kill any Bloodrunners, but also contest the zone.
I score two points.
Score 4-3
Advantage Circle
Skorne turn 4:
My opponent has a Cannoneer, Mordikaar, three Bloodrunners that can get to the Stalker, and a shot from the Soulward.
The Bloodrunners apparition.
The Soulward misses, needing a nine. The Cannoneer also misses, needing a boosted ten. I breathed a sigh of relief here, and he scatters into his own Bloodrunner and kills it.
The Void Spirit walks over to kill the Brigand unit leader, freeing up his Bloodrunners
Mordikaar charges the Warpwolf, needing 9s to hit and at dice off six. He blows his whole stack, but only does about 12 damage, and my opponent concedes as he can't possibly kill the Stalker and the Brigand Warlord.
Victory for the Druids!
Post-game thoughts:
I played really sloppily letting my opponent get that first point, I could have contested with a lot more things, but I was so scared of a Void Spirit going on a killing spree and me not making any tough checks that I did not do so.
I am extremely happy with the play that I made on that crucial turn, I couldn't believe I'd found a way to contest with the Stalker when I worked it out in my head. Megalith would have died to Mordikaar's charge, hands down.
I'm running the math here for the likelihood of killing the Stalker had the Cannoneer connected. At dice-2 he was likely to do 9 damage, add that to Mordikaar's twelve, and you get to 21. The Bloodrunners need 8s to hit, sixes if back arc, and are at dice - 9, or about 2 a piece, which could kill him if all three get there. That being said, he would have had to commit all of them to do that, which would have left the Brigand Warlord alive and healthy. I do believe my opponents bad dice that turn contributed to my win, but it was a lot closer than I thought it was before I ran the math.
Another very close game, don't let the naysayers fool you, Skorne is still very competitive with a competent player at the helm.
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