Battle Report 68: Krueger 2 vs. Thyra

Krueger 2 was the Warlock that initially attracted me to Circle. Between his Feat and TK (Man do I love that spell), he can go scenario or attrition very easily, and he himself has a monster assassination threat with a POW 12 sustained attack ranged weapon.

He also, now, gives all Friendly Faction models in his nine inch command immunity to electricity, which is incredible in the current meta. Post ATC, I will be giving this guy a very hard look.

I tossed together a list to play against my local Menoth opponent, and off we went!

Krueger 2
- Loki
- Ghetorix
- Megalith
- Pureblood
- Gorax

Blackclad x2
Gallows Grove

Sentry Stone
Shifting Stones


Super low model count, and I'd really like to fit a Gobber Chef in there. After playing this game, I'm not sold on Ghetorix, and will likely switch him out for a Stalker, but we shall see.

My opponent had brewed up this spicy little number:

Thyra
- Heirophant
- Blood of Martyrs
- Castigator

Avatar of Menoth

Tristan Durant
- Revenger
- Reckoner
Wrack x2
Punch Monk x2

Max Choir
Daughters of the Flame

I won the roll off, and after my opponent set up the terrain, slammed going first. I really, really want my models up the table as fast as possible, and I don't want to have to deal with Daughters turn 1 with only one Sentry Stone.

My opponent took the side that didn't have the house/forest combo for his poor, pathfinder-less jacks, and off we went!

My game plan was simple - get Krueger behind that house and keep him there until the game was over. I was going to have to use the Shifting Stones or Mannikins as targets for Lightning Storm to kill the Punch Monks, unless I wanted to commit Ghetorix warping Murderous to reliably hit them. 

Circle turn 1:

Full speed ahead! Krueger TKs himself, Megalith, and Ghetorix, and then advances. Megalith TKs Loki and tramples up.

The Pureblood warps Spell Ward and runs. Loki warps Preternatural Reflexes because it's fun to say and runs. Ghetorix warps Murderous and runs (again, fun to say).

Shifting Stones port up around Loki, and the Blackclads run up.

The Gallows Grove shifts up to outside the Reckoner's shooting range.

Menoth turn 1:

Blood of Martyrs Apparitions forward. Daughters run up on the hill, and the choir sing "Don't Shoot me Bro!" on his Jacks, which also run forward. Silence of Death goes on the Castigator, and Thyra casts Gates of Death on herself.

Circle turn 1:

I spend a few minutes pre-measuring, and I think I can kill the Avatar with zero retaliation this turn.

First things first - my Mannikins get a run order, putting one up on the hill. I plant a forest.

Megalith activates, moves over, and zaps the Mannikin, catching both Daughters in the AOE. He boosts damage on both of them, and they both die.

Loki gets ported over the house. The Pureblood casts Wraithbane on Loki, and Loki warps Strength and yanks the Avatar at him. "GET OVER HERE!" He does about half his health between three attacks, and sits there.

Ghetorix warps Strength and finishes off the jack.

I'm ignoring the Punch Monks for now. Eventually they have to break Shifting Sands Stance to do anything useful. The Gallows Grove ports up, and Krueger activates.

He chucks a Rebuke at Blood, and misses. He does it again and hits! He then moves up behind the house and pops his feat, catching most of my opponents army under it, shoving them back and reducing their speed. He even gets Thyra, which pushes her back into Killbox (sadly I can't score that on my turn).

I pass the turn.

Blue beads are models that got feated on.

Menoth turn 2:

With Blood unable to charge, he doesn't really have a lot of great options here. I've only got six Fury out on Beasts that can frenzy (Megalith can't because he's a construct) and Krueger is camping 1. 

He can't get anything onto Krueger thanks to the house, and if he stays back, I will devote an awful lot of resources to killing the Punch Monks and the objective to score three points. 

His Daughters kill the Gallows Grove and engage Loki. 

Punch Monks do Shifting Sands again and get on flags. 

Blood hangs back, but the Castigator and the Reckoner both move up. 

Circle turn 3:

I've got to make things happen here. I leach Fury and upkeep Rebuke. 

I can TK Ghetorix into walking range of the Reckoner, which should kill it. I can clear Loki with an aimed Sentry Stone Spray, which means that I can Primal him and hook the Castigator over. 

Ghetorix misses two attacks and fails to kill the Reckoner. Loki rolls laughably low on some damage rolls and fails to kill the Castigator. 

I have Megalith and the Pureblood sitting in the back, waiting for the inevitable retaliation, and I put the Shifting Stones around Megalith. 

Menoth turn 3:

My opponent drops Fortify but upkeeps Gates of Death. Blood apparitions. 

The Castigator flails at Loki for a few damage. The busted up Reckoner clubs Ghetorix, hits, and does ten damage with his crippled club. Sighhhhh. 

The Revenger pushes Ghetorix towards Blood of Martyrs. 

Thyra pops her Feat and charges Loki, doing fair damage. 

Blood moves his 2 from the Feat and walks into melee with both wolves, knocking Ghetorix to one box with his initial attack and then...missing Loki twice in a row to leave him alive. 

Thyra ports back with Gates of Death.

Circle turn 4:

I measure, and find that I can port Megalith into Thyra. 

First, I try for the Crit Knockdown with the Blackclad spray. I do hit, but I don't crit, and I do pretty good damage. 

The Stone port Megalith up, Megalith pops his Animus and throws Thyra into his Castigator. Mannikins charge the Castigator and kill it. 

Krueger moves up and a lightning bolt chars Thyra to death. 

Victory for the Druids!

Post-Game Thoughts:

Loki with TK is truly absurd. The threat ranges he brings to the list are gigantic, and they're very hard to hide from. 

If infantry-machine makes a come back, I can see not bringing Loki being an option, but as long as the Meta stays in this very battlegroup heavy state, I think he's here to stay. Circle REALLY needs to be one heavy up in order to win games like this, and he lets that happen with zero repercussion. 

Up next - Kaya 3 vs. Amon Ad-Raza: Who's Synergy is stronger?