Hey all, quick update!
Druid's Dice has officially moved to www.loswarmachine.com! The entire backlog of this Blog (except this post) has been switched over.
Chandler from Truth and Consequence and myself have teamed up to create more and better WarmaHordes content, including daily posts and a weekly podcast - Line of Sight.
Thank you so much to all of my loyal readers out there, please come check out the new space!
Monday, June 19, 2017
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Battle Report 107: Wurmwood vs. Butcher 3
Prologue:
You know something has gone screwy in your head when you're looking at 3 Khador heavies across the table and going "that looks way manageable".
My opponent this time had Vlad 2 with a Conquest and Butcher 3 with Ruin and double Kodiak.
I like Wurmwood into that Vlad list since Stranglehold is amazing against colossals, and I don't mind him into Butcher either since I can randomly kill Butcher a in a lot of situations.
He dropped Butcher, I dropped Wurmwood.
Butcher 3
- Argus x2
- Ruin
- Kodiak
- Kodiak
Drakhun
Orin
Ragman
Ogrun Bokur (cliented Butcher)
Kayazy Eliminator x2
Vs.
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrdlyng
- Wyrdless
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
I actually won the roll off this time, and I chose to go first.
Circle turn 1:
Everything runs up. Bone Grinders slaughter each other....well actually not so much. All three hit, only two kill. Yayyy.
The Feral cleans up the two grievously wounded pigs, and the tree and Bokur take souls and corpses.
I screw up here and don't place Wurmwood within 8 inches of the flag.
Khador turn 1:
Everything runs at me. Everything. Butcher casts Energizer and starts shoving models in my face.
Circle turn 2:
I manage to kill off Orin and Ragman with Sentry Stone sprays. I commit two Wyrds to dismounting the Drakhun and fail.
I try four Strangleholds on his Kodiaks, but only one sticks.
The dice were unkind to the Circle this turn.
Wurmwood ports closer to a flag.
Khador turn 2:
Kodiak on the right goes into the Wyrds and nearly kills one. The Drakhun can't charge around it so he stays back a bit.
Ruin goes for my left side.
Kayazy jam me up like crazy.
Circle turn 3:
It's easily a feat turn here. I use the Wyrd on the far right to dismount the Drakhun (yay gunfighter rules) and consolidate models in the middle.
The Argus enables me to easily kill the three Kayazy there.
Wurmwood gets over to the flag, pops a Wild Growth to hide my heavies, and feats, netting me a point.
Khador turn 3:
My exposed Wyrds die easily, as does my Argus. Ruin backs up, and I'm seeing something interesting going on before Butcher activates.
I'm going to 2 here, there's nothing he can do about it, and that means that if he leaves the space by the building alone, I can run a Wyrd all the way to his flag next turn and go to four. If I body block with my heavies and the house, I might be able to make it an uncontestable scenario win.
Instead, my opponent jams Butchers unit at the Sentry Stone on the right and pops his feat.
Circle turn 4:
It's assassination time!
I place a Mannikin over by the Butcher unit and drop Wild Growth.
Cassius runs, and I Hellmouth Butcher closer to me, boosting damage on his Argus and not quite killing it. I then cast Curse of Shadows on Butcher.
The Wyrd aims and misses the Argus with it's first two attacks, so I boost hit and damage on the last one and kill it.
The Bokur moves over and casts Hand of Glory on Butcher, boosting to hit and making him Stationary.
The Pureblood warps Strength and walks up, leaving the insane lunatic on a few boxes. The Feral gets ported up by the Shifting Stones after that and puts the Butcher down.
Post-Game Thoughts:
I've played this matchup a LOT, and it's a fairly close matchup assuming no mistakes on either players end, but the Butcher player has to be a lot more careful (I think) than the Wurmwood player does, especially against my particular build with so many assassination angles.
You know something has gone screwy in your head when you're looking at 3 Khador heavies across the table and going "that looks way manageable".
My opponent this time had Vlad 2 with a Conquest and Butcher 3 with Ruin and double Kodiak.
I like Wurmwood into that Vlad list since Stranglehold is amazing against colossals, and I don't mind him into Butcher either since I can randomly kill Butcher a in a lot of situations.
He dropped Butcher, I dropped Wurmwood.
Butcher 3
- Argus x2
- Ruin
- Kodiak
- Kodiak
Drakhun
Orin
Ragman
Ogrun Bokur (cliented Butcher)
Kayazy Eliminator x2
Vs.
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrdlyng
- Wyrdless
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
I actually won the roll off this time, and I chose to go first.
 |
| Sorry for the blur >< |
Everything runs up. Bone Grinders slaughter each other....well actually not so much. All three hit, only two kill. Yayyy.
The Feral cleans up the two grievously wounded pigs, and the tree and Bokur take souls and corpses.
I screw up here and don't place Wurmwood within 8 inches of the flag.
Khador turn 1:
Everything runs at me. Everything. Butcher casts Energizer and starts shoving models in my face.
Circle turn 2:
I manage to kill off Orin and Ragman with Sentry Stone sprays. I commit two Wyrds to dismounting the Drakhun and fail.
I try four Strangleholds on his Kodiaks, but only one sticks.
The dice were unkind to the Circle this turn.
Wurmwood ports closer to a flag.
Khador turn 2:
Kodiak on the right goes into the Wyrds and nearly kills one. The Drakhun can't charge around it so he stays back a bit.
Ruin goes for my left side.
Kayazy jam me up like crazy.
Circle turn 3:
It's easily a feat turn here. I use the Wyrd on the far right to dismount the Drakhun (yay gunfighter rules) and consolidate models in the middle.
The Argus enables me to easily kill the three Kayazy there.
Wurmwood gets over to the flag, pops a Wild Growth to hide my heavies, and feats, netting me a point.
Score 1-0
Advantage Circle
Khador turn 3:
My exposed Wyrds die easily, as does my Argus. Ruin backs up, and I'm seeing something interesting going on before Butcher activates.
I'm going to 2 here, there's nothing he can do about it, and that means that if he leaves the space by the building alone, I can run a Wyrd all the way to his flag next turn and go to four. If I body block with my heavies and the house, I might be able to make it an uncontestable scenario win.
Instead, my opponent jams Butchers unit at the Sentry Stone on the right and pops his feat.
Score 2-0
Advantage Circle
Circle turn 4:
It's assassination time!
I place a Mannikin over by the Butcher unit and drop Wild Growth.
Cassius runs, and I Hellmouth Butcher closer to me, boosting damage on his Argus and not quite killing it. I then cast Curse of Shadows on Butcher.
The Wyrd aims and misses the Argus with it's first two attacks, so I boost hit and damage on the last one and kill it.
The Bokur moves over and casts Hand of Glory on Butcher, boosting to hit and making him Stationary.
The Pureblood warps Strength and walks up, leaving the insane lunatic on a few boxes. The Feral gets ported up by the Shifting Stones after that and puts the Butcher down.
Victory for the Druids!
Post-Game Thoughts:
I've played this matchup a LOT, and it's a fairly close matchup assuming no mistakes on either players end, but the Butcher player has to be a lot more careful (I think) than the Wurmwood player does, especially against my particular build with so many assassination angles.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Battle Report 106: Baldur 2 (Bones of Orboros) vs. Harkevich (Jaws of the Wolf)
Game two, I was playing against Khador, and my opponent was pairing Butcher 3 with Harkevich. I think my Wurmwood list is quite okay into Butcher 3, and my opponent thought so too, but Wurmwood, at least my build, doesn't stand a chance into Harkevich's legion of jacks.
With that in mind, I put Baldur 2 down.
Baldur 2
- Wrath (Tiny)
- Wrath (Smalls)
- Megalith
Stoneshaper x2 (free)
Wayfarer (free)
Sentry Stone
Shifting Stones x2
Into:
Harkevich
- War Dog (which was forgotten in his bag)
- Kodiak x3
- Juggernaut x2
- Marauder x3
Kayazy Eliminators x2
Forge Seer x2 (free, proxied by Man O' War Shocktroopers)
We were on the same table, and I lost the roll off again. I took the side with the wall and the house, thinking to save at least one Woldwrath from getting charged. If I can prevent him from getting more than 1-2 heavies into me at a time, I might be able to heal up enough to keep all of my beasts alive through the game.
Also important note, Baldur is going to be a key beat stick late game, and I'm going to need him to take down damage jacks, so I was almost never going to get to ritual of purification the Wurm tokens off.
Khador turn 1:
Harkevich does what he does, casting Mobility and charging forward.
His 'jacks all run up the field, and the Eliminators and Forge Seers run as well.
Circle turn 1:
In kind, I run everything up as well, keeping the right hand Woldwrath out of the Marauders charge ranges. I put a Rock Wall down between the building and the other wall so that the Juggernaut can't charge the Woldwrath.
Roots of the Earth up on both the Woldwraths in case I missed something.
Khador turn 2:
I get jammed with Kodiaks. Harkevich pops Mobility and feats.
Circle turn 2:
Two priorities this turn - get Roots of the Earth everywhere (feat probably), bash up a couple jacks, and contest his zone.
I port up a Shifting Stone to accomplish the last one. Megalith plus the right hand Woldwrath kill off their Kodiak, and the left Woldwrath beats on the other.
Stoneshapers each pull a fury so Baldur can transfer.
I unsuccessfully flail at Kayazy with Mannikins.
Baldur moves up, casts Rock Wall to prevent the right hand Wrath from getting all the Marauders in his face and Feats, taking a couple damage from Wurm tokens.
Khador turn 3:
My opponent wails on Megs, but fluffs the hit roll a couple times thanks to the wall bonus.
He sends two Marauders into the objective and leaves it on one box (yesss).
The other Marauder flails at the Wrath, but at dice -7 isn't doing much.
He kills the contesting stone with a Juggy and goes to one.
Circle turn 3:
I pull as much Fury as possible with Stones and Baldur.
I kill off the left Kodiak with Baldur, but I crucially forget to Roots the right hand Wrath. Baldur does put it on himself though.
Megalith just falls short of killing center Juggy, and the left Wrath kills a Kodiak.
Right hand Wrath leaves that Marauder on life support.
I contest with another Shifting Stone.
Khador turn 4:
Not casting Roots of the Earth costs me here, as my Woldwrath goes down. It takes all three Marauders AND a lucky dice break on the part of the all crippled Juggy.
His Kayazy kill the objective and he scores 2 points here.
Circle turn 4:
Megalith kills the Juggy and nearly kills a Marauder before putting Roots of the Earth on himself.
I contest the zone with a few Shifting Stones and a Mannikin or two.
The left Juggy nearly dies to the Woldwrath, and Baldur moves up.
I port both Shifting Stones closer to the middle of the table.
Turns out, Marauders aren't great at killing non-colossals, and Megalith survives.
Harkevich runs to the zone.
With that in mind, I put Baldur 2 down.
Baldur 2
- Wrath (Tiny)
- Wrath (Smalls)
- Megalith
Stoneshaper x2 (free)
Wayfarer (free)
Sentry Stone
Shifting Stones x2
Into:
Harkevich
- War Dog (which was forgotten in his bag)
- Kodiak x3
- Juggernaut x2
- Marauder x3
Kayazy Eliminators x2
Forge Seer x2 (free, proxied by Man O' War Shocktroopers)
We were on the same table, and I lost the roll off again. I took the side with the wall and the house, thinking to save at least one Woldwrath from getting charged. If I can prevent him from getting more than 1-2 heavies into me at a time, I might be able to heal up enough to keep all of my beasts alive through the game.
Also important note, Baldur is going to be a key beat stick late game, and I'm going to need him to take down damage jacks, so I was almost never going to get to ritual of purification the Wurm tokens off.
Khador turn 1:
Harkevich does what he does, casting Mobility and charging forward.
His 'jacks all run up the field, and the Eliminators and Forge Seers run as well.
Circle turn 1:
In kind, I run everything up as well, keeping the right hand Woldwrath out of the Marauders charge ranges. I put a Rock Wall down between the building and the other wall so that the Juggernaut can't charge the Woldwrath.
Roots of the Earth up on both the Woldwraths in case I missed something.
Khador turn 2:
I get jammed with Kodiaks. Harkevich pops Mobility and feats.
Circle turn 2:
Two priorities this turn - get Roots of the Earth everywhere (feat probably), bash up a couple jacks, and contest his zone.
I port up a Shifting Stone to accomplish the last one. Megalith plus the right hand Woldwrath kill off their Kodiak, and the left Woldwrath beats on the other.
Stoneshapers each pull a fury so Baldur can transfer.
I unsuccessfully flail at Kayazy with Mannikins.
Baldur moves up, casts Rock Wall to prevent the right hand Wrath from getting all the Marauders in his face and Feats, taking a couple damage from Wurm tokens.
Khador turn 3:
My opponent wails on Megs, but fluffs the hit roll a couple times thanks to the wall bonus.
He sends two Marauders into the objective and leaves it on one box (yesss).
The other Marauder flails at the Wrath, but at dice -7 isn't doing much.
He kills the contesting stone with a Juggy and goes to one.
Score: 0 - 1
Advantage Khador
Circle turn 3:
I pull as much Fury as possible with Stones and Baldur.
I kill off the left Kodiak with Baldur, but I crucially forget to Roots the right hand Wrath. Baldur does put it on himself though.
Megalith just falls short of killing center Juggy, and the left Wrath kills a Kodiak.
Right hand Wrath leaves that Marauder on life support.
I contest with another Shifting Stone.
Score: 0 -1
Advantage Khador
Khador turn 4:
Not casting Roots of the Earth costs me here, as my Woldwrath goes down. It takes all three Marauders AND a lucky dice break on the part of the all crippled Juggy.
His Kayazy kill the objective and he scores 2 points here.
Score: 0 - 3
Advantage Khador
Circle turn 4:
Megalith kills the Juggy and nearly kills a Marauder before putting Roots of the Earth on himself.
I contest the zone with a few Shifting Stones and a Mannikin or two.
The left Juggy nearly dies to the Woldwrath, and Baldur moves up.
I port both Shifting Stones closer to the middle of the table.
Score: 0 - 3
Advantage Khador
Khador turn 5:Turns out, Marauders aren't great at killing non-colossals, and Megalith survives.
Harkevich runs to the zone.
Score: 0 - 3
Advantage Khador
Circle turn 5:
Megalith goes first, leaving yet another Marauder on life support and killing the other.
The Juggy dies to the Woldwrath initials.
Baldur, now with five Wurm tokens, two shots the objective and dominates that zone.
I move both Shifting Stones over again, just touching the edge of the zone, and contest with everything I have left that can.
Score: 3-3
Tie!
Khador turn 6:
Megalith finally dies, as do all of my other non-Woldwrath models on that side of the table.
My opponent does a happy dance, and then I point out that I also get 2 points.
He's blocked my Wrath out of the zone pretty hard.
Score: 5-5
Tie!
Circle turn 6:
Fortunately for me, my Shifting Stone is less than 8 inches from the edge of his zone, and is able to port over and contest.
My Woldwrath chucks his Marauder into his other Marauder for fun, and I score two points.
Score: 7-5
Victory for the Druids!
Post-Game Thoughts:
Wow this is a hard matchup. Terrain really saved me here, as did my opponents dice when he went after the objective.
I made a couple big mistakes (ALWAYS put Roots of the Earth up, it's better than making that last attack Megalith), and this is just....such a hard game. This Harkevich build is no joke, and I need a lot more practice into it.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Battle Report 105: Wurmwod vs. Vindictus (Exemplar Interdiction)
Prologue:
In practice for the team event coming up, my teammates and a friend drove out from Spokane to play some games (my car is on the fritz, so I couldn't get out there myself).
We got three games each in, which is a lot more than I'm used to getting in a day, and it was definitely good to play my lists a few times into scary matchups. I learned a lot about how to play them and made both really cool, game winning plays and really stupid, nearly lost me the game kinds of plays.
Round 1 we all rolled off and I got dropped into Menoth. He was playing Reznik 2 and Vindictus, which instantly meant I wasn't playing Baldur 2. That is way, way too many blessed, hard hitting weapons for him to handle well.
I played Wurmwood, he dropped Vindictus, playing the same list I used at the last Mox Masters Event.
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Argus
- Wyrd
- Wyrdly
- Wyrdness
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
Fuel Cache
Against:
Vindictus (Interdiction theme)
- Reckoner
- Reckoner
Gravus
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (free)
Vengers
Vengers
Knights Exemplar x2
- CA x2 (free)
We were playing Extraction. I lost the roll off, and so I went second, taking the side that I could easily hold down a forest wall between an existing forest and the central house.
Circle turn 1:
I'm definitely counter-feating here, but I need to kill as much as I can. Because of Battle Driven, I want to restrict it to one unit, so all three Wyrds go into the Vengers on the right, leaving them down to one model. Gravus gets fully fueled by the carnage.
Bone Grinders kill each other for souls and corpse tokens, and Wurmwood gets ported back behind the forest.
Shamblers and Sentry Stone Mannikins derp around, getting nothing really done. Wurmwood activates, casting a Wild Growth off to the side and then feating to prevent most of my army from getting charged.
Positioning is extremely important, and so is understanding the dice math. I absolutely love trying to unravel time-walk feats as a mental exercise, they're extremely interesting.
Menoth turn 3:
True Path goes up, and Choir members sing Battle and kill off the Shambler.
The right hand Reckoner boosts a shot into the Objective.
Knights on the right hand side charge in, doing damage to some Wyrds and bringing the objective down.
Vengers kill some dudes, and the Seneschal charges the Feral, missing his charge attack and not getting his Combo Smite.
My opponent scores 2.
Knight Exemplar Seneschals....suck.
I spend a long time planning out my activations. I'm able to kill off all the Knights on the right side, and Hellmouth the Reckoner out (Bone Grinders are SUPER good here, giving out Craft Talisman is money), and the Shamblers contest again with a placed guy, also making the left hand Reckoner Stationary.
The Pureblood assaults the Reckoner and whiffs its hit rolls. I had to warp Ghostly to get there, so the hits I do connect with are super whimpy, doing about 10 damage to it.
The Argus kills a Venger, and then I finally get around to disabling the Seneschal. Cassius gets ported over and puts the Seneschal in the ground. The Feral walks away from the now KD Knight and I score again.
Menoth turn 4:
Right hand Reckoner gets loaded up, left hand one shakes Stationary, and the Seneschal dies.
Vindictus puts up True Path and stays safe in the zone. The Choir, once again, sing Battle and kill the Shambler.
My opponent has a very clever play where he charges his Knights in, one going into the Shifting Stone in the zone (since he can't make it into the zone quite with his charge), killing it and overtaking in.
Cassius and the Chef die horribly, and the Argus loses about half of its boxes. My opponent scores once again.
In practice for the team event coming up, my teammates and a friend drove out from Spokane to play some games (my car is on the fritz, so I couldn't get out there myself).
We got three games each in, which is a lot more than I'm used to getting in a day, and it was definitely good to play my lists a few times into scary matchups. I learned a lot about how to play them and made both really cool, game winning plays and really stupid, nearly lost me the game kinds of plays.
Round 1 we all rolled off and I got dropped into Menoth. He was playing Reznik 2 and Vindictus, which instantly meant I wasn't playing Baldur 2. That is way, way too many blessed, hard hitting weapons for him to handle well.
I played Wurmwood, he dropped Vindictus, playing the same list I used at the last Mox Masters Event.
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Argus
- Wyrd
- Wyrdly
- Wyrdness
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
Fuel Cache
Against:
Vindictus (Interdiction theme)
- Reckoner
- Reckoner
Gravus
Knight Exemplar Seneschal (free)
Vengers
Vengers
Knights Exemplar x2
- CA x2 (free)
We were playing Extraction. I lost the roll off, and so I went second, taking the side that I could easily hold down a forest wall between an existing forest and the central house.
So this is what it feels like to stare down that many horses. Eek. I deployed the Wyrds opposite one unit of Vengers, since I knew I'd need all three of them to make an appreciable dent in the unit.
Menoth turn 1:
Vindictus went first, allocating nothing. He put up True Path and Defenders Ward and then proxied out a six inch advance.
I then got to witness the joy on his face as I informed him that True Path is a model/unit spell, and Vindictus advanced his full 8 before popping his feat.
Models got shoved into my half of the board with reckless abandon. Soooo many horses.
Circle turn 1:
I'm definitely counter-feating here, but I need to kill as much as I can. Because of Battle Driven, I want to restrict it to one unit, so all three Wyrds go into the Vengers on the right, leaving them down to one model. Gravus gets fully fueled by the carnage.
Bone Grinders kill each other for souls and corpse tokens, and Wurmwood gets ported back behind the forest.
Shamblers and Sentry Stone Mannikins derp around, getting nothing really done. Wurmwood activates, casting a Wild Growth off to the side and then feating to prevent most of my army from getting charged.
Menoth turn 2:
My feat is about as good a time walk as it gets, and he's only able to get a charge into one Sentry Stone, doing most of its boxes.
His Knights move up into cover and to threaten the right zone should I move into it. Vindictus moves to his zone to dominate if I don't contest.
Time walk feats are so incredibly fascinating to me. When you set up to use one of your own, how do you force your opponent do what you want them to do? How do you prevent them from getting any counter-play?
Circle turn 2:
Alright, I've got two man goals for this turn - kill Gravus, and safely dominate my zone while contesting my opponents. I need to kill quite a few Knights on the left in order to get into that zone, and on the right I need to kill off all of the Knights that can threaten Wurmwood.
I start things off by killing both of his Vengers with charging Mannikins. I also run a Mannikin into the middle of his Knights on the left.
Wurmwood activates, Hellmouths the Mannikin, killing 2/3 of the Knights, and then Strangleholds another Knight on the right hand side.
Shamblers run up, and the one on the left actually does 5 damage to the Reckoner on a charge - dang!
Wyrds and Pureblood clear off Knights on the right, and then Wurmwood gets ported in by the Shifting Stones. The Feral stays back to be a second wave beater of sorts, and I score a point.
Score 1-0
Advantage Circle
Menoth turn 3:
True Path goes up, and Choir members sing Battle and kill off the Shambler.
The right hand Reckoner boosts a shot into the Objective.
Knights on the right hand side charge in, doing damage to some Wyrds and bringing the objective down.
Vengers kill some dudes, and the Seneschal charges the Feral, missing his charge attack and not getting his Combo Smite.
My opponent scores 2.
 |
| The Large base in the right zone isn't actually a model |
Score 1-2
Advantage Menoth
Circle turn 3:
I spend a long time planning out my activations. I'm able to kill off all the Knights on the right side, and Hellmouth the Reckoner out (Bone Grinders are SUPER good here, giving out Craft Talisman is money), and the Shamblers contest again with a placed guy, also making the left hand Reckoner Stationary.
The Pureblood assaults the Reckoner and whiffs its hit rolls. I had to warp Ghostly to get there, so the hits I do connect with are super whimpy, doing about 10 damage to it.
The Argus kills a Venger, and then I finally get around to disabling the Seneschal. Cassius gets ported over and puts the Seneschal in the ground. The Feral walks away from the now KD Knight and I score again.
Score 2-2
Tie!
Menoth turn 4:
Right hand Reckoner gets loaded up, left hand one shakes Stationary, and the Seneschal dies.
Vindictus puts up True Path and stays safe in the zone. The Choir, once again, sing Battle and kill the Shambler.
My opponent has a very clever play where he charges his Knights in, one going into the Shifting Stone in the zone (since he can't make it into the zone quite with his charge), killing it and overtaking in.
Cassius and the Chef die horribly, and the Argus loses about half of its boxes. My opponent scores once again.
Score 2-3
Advantage Menoth
Circle turn 4:
That Shifting Stone was super important, and without it I have to take a Frenzy check on the Pureblood. He passes, as does the Argus.
A Woldwyrd moves over, kills the Knight in the zone, kills the other Knight, and kills a Venger. Mmmmm....Wyrds.
The Pureblood moves around the Reckoner, engaging the Choir member and bashing on the Reckoner.
The Feral also moves up and bashes down the jack.
I run a Wyrd all the way to the enemy zone to contest.
Wurmwood gets a Talisman, and then Strangleholds the remaining Reckoner.
Stones port around the remaining Venger and Knight.
I score again, and my opponent thinks for a couple of seconds before conceding. He can't control my zone with literally anything since the Reckoner is Strangleheld, and I'm starting to contest his zone with models that he can't kill in one activation easily. Next turn, I can easily clear my zone and gun down his objective.
Victory for the Druids!
Post-Game Thoughts:
This is a brutally hard matchup, and terrain and my unusual Wurmwood build with all three Wyrds is really the only reason I was able to pull this out. Any less than that, and I can't kill enough on Vindictus' feat turn.
Definitely something to be on the look out fellow Druids, this Vindictus list is a monster.
Friday, June 9, 2017
Guest Article: Billy Nichols "Nirvanawn" on Fatherhood and Warmachine
Well it has been about two years since I have written an article about Warmachine/Hordes. I miss the mental exercise, and it's good to be back.
They main reason I haven’t had a chance to write is due to one of the best things to ever happen, fatherhood.
Picture of my son Hunter May 2017.
Now one may assume that you have to give up Warmachine once you become a parent and this does not have to be the case!
Let me explain.
Of course gaming and hobbying time has been harder to come by, but what I have found is that you might just have to change your habits if you want to fit it in to “Life”.
Personally, I needed Warmachine to be a release away from the seriousness of life. So I have done a few things to make sure I can still play, and play at a higher level.
- Pared down my factions. I now only own Minions and Circle, though recently I did purchase a small lot of Cryx (I got it for cheap, who knows what I was thinking or if I will play it). I used to own Mercs, Trolls, and Khador as well at one time. I may have had a problem.
- Played a single faction for a long period of time (minimum of 6 months) with no switching.
- Concentrate on a handful of casters at a time instead of the whole faction for practice and tournament play.
- Paint or have painted the models I am actually going to put on the table.
So let’s highlight my points:
Pared Down Factions
I am lucky enough that after the birth of my son I was not wanting for money, but I realistically knew that my time would be crunched - especially when the school semester was in session (I teach college biology).
My goal was to continue being competitive at tournaments, as I had normally been, but in doing so I needed to be a little more focused. I figured the best way to do this was by limiting my chances of faction ADD, so by having fewer models/factions in house it helped keep my focus on a specific faction and set of casters to play. Speaking of which....
Play a Faction for a Long Period
This one is obvious. The longer you play a faction the better you get with it. You start to find all the small nuances in the models, and basic things such as instant recall of your models' stats becomes second nature.
Once you are to this point it is easier to figure out what your opponents will do against you and you become faster on clock, and for this reason I chose to make sure that I played a single faction for a long stretch.
Up until recently, outside of a game or two, I played minions in all of the competitive tourneys I had gone to in mark 3. Before that, even before my son was born, I played Circle for over a year. I got so comfortable with them that even coming back in a new edition for the last month has felt great. Yes, the tactics are different, but re-learning all of the stats was easy.
Concentrate on a Few Casters
Along with my last point when you find yourself playing similar pieces over and over you figure out their weaknesses, strengths, and minor nuances that will make you a stronger player.
Nothing is more important to do this with then a caster. I used to find myself, even though I was not switching factions, changing up the casters I played very often. In mark 2, I made Krueger 2 my main and my second caster kept alternating. This led to me being relatively confident in both lists.
Now, I play the same three casters and learn them in and out, until I am comfortable into their matches. With mark 3 so far this was Rask, Barnabus, and Doctor Arkadius. Now that I have changed back to Circle it has been Baldur 2, Una 2, and Mohsar (Gasp no Wurmwood!). Baldur 2 with at least 1 Woldwrath being at the core of my pairing.
Paint What I am Playing
More and more events seem to be fully painted or have painting awards, so I like to try to keep up on my painted models. This can be extremely hard as often times it feels like you spend game time painting. The way I get around this, since it is hard to come up with large chunks of time to paint, is to paint for an hour or more after the little dude goes to bed.
I find it helps relax me before bed, especially when the alternative is to grade papers. It took me awhile to realize that this was my only real choice if I wanted painted material and not get everything commissioned.
Commission painted models are always an alternative choice though if you can find someone affordable. I used to paint 3-4 hours at a time and complete models in that time. Now, I just do what I can and if I am consistent at 2-3 nights a week then projects will be completed. A little bit at a time really adds up fast.
Conclusion
I love the game and I am still glad it is part of my life. With all these points about playing and hobbying there is a couple things to the equation when it comes to playing Warmachine and fatherhood for me.
I could not keep this up if my wife and my gaming friends did not support me. My wife understands my Thursday night gaming habits, plus the occasional tournament, and never has a problem with it. My friends are always supportive if I have to run upstairs to help my wife with the little dude or need to pick him up from daycare before we play. Without them I could not do it.
Feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss anything about the article or have your own stories of being a Warmachine playing parent.
-Nirvanawn (Billy Nichols)
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Battle Report 104: Wurmwood vs. Servath Reznik, WRATH OF AGES
Prologue:
Why do Menoth casters all get such epic sounding names *grumble grumble*.
Anyway, after my probably-should-have-been-a-loss against Absylonia 2, I got to practice Wurmwood into a much more balanced (read, some balance at all in there) list.
My opponent had Reznik 2 and Kreoss 2, and I just couldn't drop Baldur into that since both lists have bokuda amounts of blessed and high damage models.
We were on the Pit, and this time I won the roll and deliberately chose to go second.
Reznik 2
- Madelyn Corbeau
- Scourge of Heresy
- Reckoner
- Revenger
Wrack
Wrack
Wrack
Mechanik
Mechanik
Idrians
- CA
Knights Exemplar
- CA
Choir (min)
Rhoven and Co.
And I was still playing:
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrdly
- Wyrdlike
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
My opponent refused my generous offer to borrow a Devout (I know what you're getting for Father's Day pal), and we were off to the races (Chariot, get it?).
Some of the pictures might be a bit blurry in this one, my six month old was being a Punk Monkey and his mom needed a break, so I played a lot of this game with one hand (thanks Jason for helping me measure out my nefarious plans against you!)
Prey went onto the Argus.
Menoth turn 1:
Stuff moves up! I think Idrians advanced and Dug In.
Punch Monks move up and Shifting Sands Stance.
Jacks run, too far! The Choir cannot keep pace with the mechanical sprinters.
Reznik puts Death March (hmmmmm say the Wyrds) on the Idrians and moves up after yanking a focus. The Knights Exemplar crowd the Idrians, making fun of their poor shovel technique.
Circle turn 1:
I run up Shamblers (man I love it when Amphibious matters) and Cassius punches a couple in the back to make some forests.
Mannikins kill one hapless Idrian, triggering Vengeance (whoops, definitely had a baby chewing on my arm when that happened) and both units make me a beautiful forest wall.
Stuff moves up and hides behind said forest wall. Bone Grinders craft Wurmwood a talisman out of something unmentionable because I SEE AN OPENING TO KILL A PUNCH MONK AND MY VISION WENT ALL RED AND HAZY.
I mean, what?
Wurmwood gets ported up, casts Hellmouth at the Reckoner, and drags in both shield guards, the Revenger, and the Punch Monk AND FAILS TO KILL THE PUNCH MONK.
Crying, Wurmwood teleports back behind Cassius with a Dark Path.
Everything else moves up and Wurmwood gets an escort of Shifting Stones.
Everything, that is, except the poor Argus who runs VERY far away from the Idrians.
Menoth turn 2:
Idrians get their vengeance movement. Reznik allocates a couple to Scourge (curse you Arcane Vortex!) and upkeeps Death March.
The Choir sings Battle on everything, and Rhoven gives the Reckoner Eyeless sight.
It moves up and pops a shot into the closest Sentry Stone, dealing 7 damage to it and Flaring it.
The Idrians get a CRA into that stone and finish it off, and then kill two of three Mannikins from the remaining one. They Reposition to spread out.
Scourge moves into the zone a bit, and the Knights Exemplar scoot up onto the recently vacated hill.
Both Punch Monks move up some more and put themselves in Shifting Sands Stance.
A drifted Flesh is Weak kills a random Shambler and makes another unable to run.
Circle turn 2:
Wormwood gets his ten fury and the forests all vanish. I get a Mannikin, some fury, and three Shamblers.
Things start off with the Woldwyrds blasting all but one or two Idrians off the table (Thanks Purgation).
The Pureblood moves up and shoots Scourge, doing 6 damage.
I run a Shambler between the Punch Monks.
I scoot Cassius up a bit, and Stranglehold the Reckoner, cranking damage and doing 6 to it as well. Wurmwood chucks a Hellmouth at the Shambler, dragging both Punch Monks in. The unhurt one dies, but the one I'd already failed to kill toughs ><
I feat, and the Feral runs up into the zone a little bit to be relevant.
Menoth turn 3:
My opponent spends a long time in the tank, which allows my son to drool all over my shirt and arm. Eventually, he starts things off, no allocation.
The Reckoner gets repaired by a Mechanik, and the Choir sing Battle.
Reznik moves up and Feats, and then my opponent premeasures and realizes that he can get Scourge onto my Sentry Stone, and therefore onto my Pureblood. Fortunately for me, he hadn't allocated anything to Scourge, so when Scourge goes in, he kills the Stone (BOOM goes the feat, doing seven damage to the Pureblood) and then only connects with one of his two attacks, so the Wolf survives.
The Knights all run up at me.
Circle turn 3:
The Woldwyrds kill off all but a few Knights, and then Wurmwood activates and casts Curse of Shadows on Scourge, then Hellmouthing all but one Knight off the table, killing the Punch Monk in the process.
The Pureblood warps Strength and kills Scourge.
The Feral backs up, Wurmwood gets out of Reznik's threat range thanks to a Stone unit.
Shamblers jam up, and the Bokur makes the Reckoner stationary for fun.
Menoth turn 4:
There's not a lot of good choices left. The Reckoner shakes his stationary and gets a few focus.
The two Jacks clear off the Bokur and contesting Shambler.
The Knight Exemplar charges the Pureblood and does a few damage.
Reznik goes man mode and charges in, cursing the Pureblood and killing him and the Shifting Stone in the zone. He Repositions back and gets surrounded by hislovers friends army.
Menoth gets two points!
Circle turn 4:
Well I can charge him with a Feral and I can get Curse of Shadows into him and some shots.
Wurmwood lands the Curse of Shadows, Primals the Feral and passes.
I soften Reznik up with a Wyrd and then send in the Pureblood. It's 4s to hit and dice +3 before Focus reduction, and the mighty Chariot goes down.
Why do Menoth casters all get such epic sounding names *grumble grumble*.
Anyway, after my probably-should-have-been-a-loss against Absylonia 2, I got to practice Wurmwood into a much more balanced (read, some balance at all in there) list.
My opponent had Reznik 2 and Kreoss 2, and I just couldn't drop Baldur into that since both lists have bokuda amounts of blessed and high damage models.
We were on the Pit, and this time I won the roll and deliberately chose to go second.
Reznik 2
- Madelyn Corbeau
- Scourge of Heresy
- Reckoner
- Revenger
Wrack
Wrack
Wrack
Mechanik
Mechanik
Idrians
- CA
Knights Exemplar
- CA
Choir (min)
Rhoven and Co.
And I was still playing:
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrdly
- Wyrdlike
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Bone Grinders (min)
My opponent refused my generous offer to borrow a Devout (I know what you're getting for Father's Day pal), and we were off to the races (Chariot, get it?).
Some of the pictures might be a bit blurry in this one, my six month old was being a Punk Monkey and his mom needed a break, so I played a lot of this game with one hand (thanks Jason for helping me measure out my nefarious plans against you!)
 |
| I can still premeasure out my forest wall when I deploy, so I'm going to till I can't :P |
Prey went onto the Argus.
Menoth turn 1:
Stuff moves up! I think Idrians advanced and Dug In.
Punch Monks move up and Shifting Sands Stance.
Jacks run, too far! The Choir cannot keep pace with the mechanical sprinters.
Reznik puts Death March (hmmmmm say the Wyrds) on the Idrians and moves up after yanking a focus. The Knights Exemplar crowd the Idrians, making fun of their poor shovel technique.
Circle turn 1:
I run up Shamblers (man I love it when Amphibious matters) and Cassius punches a couple in the back to make some forests.
Mannikins kill one hapless Idrian, triggering Vengeance (whoops, definitely had a baby chewing on my arm when that happened) and both units make me a beautiful forest wall.
Stuff moves up and hides behind said forest wall. Bone Grinders craft Wurmwood a talisman out of something unmentionable because I SEE AN OPENING TO KILL A PUNCH MONK AND MY VISION WENT ALL RED AND HAZY.
I mean, what?
Wurmwood gets ported up, casts Hellmouth at the Reckoner, and drags in both shield guards, the Revenger, and the Punch Monk AND FAILS TO KILL THE PUNCH MONK.
Crying, Wurmwood teleports back behind Cassius with a Dark Path.
Everything else moves up and Wurmwood gets an escort of Shifting Stones.
Everything, that is, except the poor Argus who runs VERY far away from the Idrians.
Menoth turn 2:
Idrians get their vengeance movement. Reznik allocates a couple to Scourge (curse you Arcane Vortex!) and upkeeps Death March.
The Choir sings Battle on everything, and Rhoven gives the Reckoner Eyeless sight.
It moves up and pops a shot into the closest Sentry Stone, dealing 7 damage to it and Flaring it.
The Idrians get a CRA into that stone and finish it off, and then kill two of three Mannikins from the remaining one. They Reposition to spread out.
Scourge moves into the zone a bit, and the Knights Exemplar scoot up onto the recently vacated hill.
Both Punch Monks move up some more and put themselves in Shifting Sands Stance.
A drifted Flesh is Weak kills a random Shambler and makes another unable to run.
Circle turn 2:
Wormwood gets his ten fury and the forests all vanish. I get a Mannikin, some fury, and three Shamblers.
Things start off with the Woldwyrds blasting all but one or two Idrians off the table (Thanks Purgation).
The Pureblood moves up and shoots Scourge, doing 6 damage.
I run a Shambler between the Punch Monks.
I scoot Cassius up a bit, and Stranglehold the Reckoner, cranking damage and doing 6 to it as well. Wurmwood chucks a Hellmouth at the Shambler, dragging both Punch Monks in. The unhurt one dies, but the one I'd already failed to kill toughs ><
I feat, and the Feral runs up into the zone a little bit to be relevant.
Menoth turn 3:
My opponent spends a long time in the tank, which allows my son to drool all over my shirt and arm. Eventually, he starts things off, no allocation.
The Reckoner gets repaired by a Mechanik, and the Choir sing Battle.
Reznik moves up and Feats, and then my opponent premeasures and realizes that he can get Scourge onto my Sentry Stone, and therefore onto my Pureblood. Fortunately for me, he hadn't allocated anything to Scourge, so when Scourge goes in, he kills the Stone (BOOM goes the feat, doing seven damage to the Pureblood) and then only connects with one of his two attacks, so the Wolf survives.
The Knights all run up at me.
Circle turn 3:
The Woldwyrds kill off all but a few Knights, and then Wurmwood activates and casts Curse of Shadows on Scourge, then Hellmouthing all but one Knight off the table, killing the Punch Monk in the process.
The Pureblood warps Strength and kills Scourge.
The Feral backs up, Wurmwood gets out of Reznik's threat range thanks to a Stone unit.
Shamblers jam up, and the Bokur makes the Reckoner stationary for fun.
 |
| I'm amazed this picture is even slightly clear, I was juggling a baby here. |
Menoth turn 4:
There's not a lot of good choices left. The Reckoner shakes his stationary and gets a few focus.
The two Jacks clear off the Bokur and contesting Shambler.
The Knight Exemplar charges the Pureblood and does a few damage.
Reznik goes man mode and charges in, cursing the Pureblood and killing him and the Shifting Stone in the zone. He Repositions back and gets surrounded by his
Menoth gets two points!
Score 0-2
Advantage Menoth
Well I can charge him with a Feral and I can get Curse of Shadows into him and some shots.
Wurmwood lands the Curse of Shadows, Primals the Feral and passes.
I soften Reznik up with a Wyrd and then send in the Pureblood. It's 4s to hit and dice +3 before Focus reduction, and the mighty Chariot goes down.
Victory for the Druids!
Post-Game Thoughts:
Before Woldwyrds, Reznik was one of the hardest matchups Circle had. Lamentation is such an awful spell to have to deal with when it affects not only your caster, but also your warbeasts. Paying 4 for Wraithbane sucks, let me tell you.
But thanks to Woldwyrds, Reznik can't afford to keep it out into the mid-game or else he pretty much instantly dies to the onslaught of Woldwyrds. I played this matchup quite a few times before the advent of the Wyrd, and I deliberately teched this Wurmwood list to handle Reznik 2, and I'm glad to see that the tech still works.
Battle Report 103: Wurmwood vs. Absylonia 2 (Children of the Dragon)
Prologue:
Alright, time to practice my Circle lists....it's been a while since Wurmwood lovingly embraced me.
My roommate has a really scary list that he likes to play, and he pairs that with Rhyas 1 right now. The correct drop was 100% Baldur 2 because...well you'll see, but instead I dropped Wurmwood to see if he could handle it:
Absylonia 2
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
Nyss Warlord x2
Spell Martyr x3
Shepherd x2
Yeahhhh........that's 25 Shredders for those who don't want to count.
My (much more balanced) list
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrder
- Wyrdest
- Argus
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Min Bone Grinders
I lost the roll off (oof) and chose the side with the wall. The Scenario was Recon.
Legion turn 1:
Literally nothing happens but running. Under Alpha Hunter and Abyslonia's feat, the Shredders threat 13 inches, so I can advance about....an inch.
Circle turn 1:
Typical Wurmwood BS to start off with. Move up with Bone Grinders, Craft Talisman for Wurmwood, proceed to slaughter eachother for corpses and souls.
I move Cassius up, I think I can catch 7 Shredders in a Hellmouth this turn.
Everything moves up cautiously. Wurmwood gets ported a bit closer.
I boost a Hellmouth at a Shredder, needing a six and...miss.
Dark Path gets Cassius back and Feat. I think this was possibly a mistake, but I don't think there's a lot better of choice here. Had the Hellmouth hit, I would have only taken a charge from one Shredder if Abby feated, but without it I'm getting hit by 4-5, which, fun fact, will kill nearly anything.
Legion turn 2:
Abby holds her feat, and uses a Hex Bolt through a Spell Martyr to trigger Alpha Hunter. Shredders jam me up like crazy. Really wishing I'd hit that first Hellmouth, as half the right side would already be on half boxes.
Circle turn 2:
I get some work done here, but it's not nearly enough. I end up killing I believe 9 Shredders, holding my Feral and a Wyrd back for when everything inevitably dies. I've got another handful on life support, but I keep missing the last attack I need to kill one and then not having the resources to end it, which is a problem when Abby has Psycho Surgery.
At some point in this silliness, I pass the clock over for my opponent to scroll through his endless Shredders, and it stays on his time for between a minute and two minutes extra before we notice it, which will end up mattering a lot.
Legion turn 3:
Everything I love dies. Abby cuts for four, moves up, feats, and Hex Bolts something and kills a dude. She then casts Psycho Surgery and eats another five minutes of clock healing up his guys.
Two Shredders kill the Pureblood. Two kill the Argus. Two of my Wyrds die. All but one Shambler die, and so does the Bokur. His last attack goes into a Shifting Stone around Wurmwood and...kills it.
Circle turn 3:
Because that Shifting Stone died and I killed my own Bone Grinder last turn, I can't Hellmouth Abby out for death by shooting (she has one or two transfer targets and I think I can get her away from them).
Wyrd kills a Shredder or two, and then I screw up and port my Shifting Stones in the Ferals way, so he has to warp Speed, and walk around the Wyrd in order to get to the Shredders.
He misses several attacks, leaving all but one of the four alive.
Wurmwood Hellmouths the ones on the right and takes out the Warlord with a Stranglehold.
Legion turn 4:
All but four Shredders frenzy, and those Shredders don't do a whole lot. Abby casts Psycho Surgery and durdles up a bit.
Circle turn 4:
I see an opening here, and I decide I have to go for it.
A Sentry Mannikin kills the Shredder in front of the Feral. A stone ports up, and Wurmwood Primals the Feral and Hellmouth's the Stone, yanking Abby in.
The Feral walks up, and brings her to one box and two transfers in his initial attacks. I need to hit 3 of 4 attacks needing sixes to win this, and proceed to hit none of them.
Wurmwood gets his wooden tush ported back out of the way.
Legion turn 5:
My opponent kills nearly everything I have left and passes with 8 seconds left on his clock.
Circle turn 5:
I activate everything and do nothing and then pass back, and my opponent clocks.
Alright, time to practice my Circle lists....it's been a while since Wurmwood lovingly embraced me.
My roommate has a really scary list that he likes to play, and he pairs that with Rhyas 1 right now. The correct drop was 100% Baldur 2 because...well you'll see, but instead I dropped Wurmwood to see if he could handle it:
Absylonia 2
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
- Shredder
Nyss Warlord x2
Spell Martyr x3
Shepherd x2
Yeahhhh........that's 25 Shredders for those who don't want to count.
My (much more balanced) list
Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Wyrd
- Wyrder
- Wyrdest
- Argus
Gobber Chef
Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Gatorman Bokur and Shamblers
Min Bone Grinders
I lost the roll off (oof) and chose the side with the wall. The Scenario was Recon.
 |
| I feel so outnumbered :( |
Literally nothing happens but running. Under Alpha Hunter and Abyslonia's feat, the Shredders threat 13 inches, so I can advance about....an inch.
Circle turn 1:
Typical Wurmwood BS to start off with. Move up with Bone Grinders, Craft Talisman for Wurmwood, proceed to slaughter eachother for corpses and souls.
I move Cassius up, I think I can catch 7 Shredders in a Hellmouth this turn.
Everything moves up cautiously. Wurmwood gets ported a bit closer.
I boost a Hellmouth at a Shredder, needing a six and...miss.
Dark Path gets Cassius back and Feat. I think this was possibly a mistake, but I don't think there's a lot better of choice here. Had the Hellmouth hit, I would have only taken a charge from one Shredder if Abby feated, but without it I'm getting hit by 4-5, which, fun fact, will kill nearly anything.
Legion turn 2:
Abby holds her feat, and uses a Hex Bolt through a Spell Martyr to trigger Alpha Hunter. Shredders jam me up like crazy. Really wishing I'd hit that first Hellmouth, as half the right side would already be on half boxes.
Circle turn 2:
I get some work done here, but it's not nearly enough. I end up killing I believe 9 Shredders, holding my Feral and a Wyrd back for when everything inevitably dies. I've got another handful on life support, but I keep missing the last attack I need to kill one and then not having the resources to end it, which is a problem when Abby has Psycho Surgery.
At some point in this silliness, I pass the clock over for my opponent to scroll through his endless Shredders, and it stays on his time for between a minute and two minutes extra before we notice it, which will end up mattering a lot.
 |
| Look! I killed...some stuff! |
Legion turn 3:
Everything I love dies. Abby cuts for four, moves up, feats, and Hex Bolts something and kills a dude. She then casts Psycho Surgery and eats another five minutes of clock healing up his guys.
Two Shredders kill the Pureblood. Two kill the Argus. Two of my Wyrds die. All but one Shambler die, and so does the Bokur. His last attack goes into a Shifting Stone around Wurmwood and...kills it.
 |
| Look, he killed...more stuff. |
Because that Shifting Stone died and I killed my own Bone Grinder last turn, I can't Hellmouth Abby out for death by shooting (she has one or two transfer targets and I think I can get her away from them).
Wyrd kills a Shredder or two, and then I screw up and port my Shifting Stones in the Ferals way, so he has to warp Speed, and walk around the Wyrd in order to get to the Shredders.
He misses several attacks, leaving all but one of the four alive.
Wurmwood Hellmouths the ones on the right and takes out the Warlord with a Stranglehold.
Legion turn 4:
All but four Shredders frenzy, and those Shredders don't do a whole lot. Abby casts Psycho Surgery and durdles up a bit.
Circle turn 4:
I see an opening here, and I decide I have to go for it.
A Sentry Mannikin kills the Shredder in front of the Feral. A stone ports up, and Wurmwood Primals the Feral and Hellmouth's the Stone, yanking Abby in.
The Feral walks up, and brings her to one box and two transfers in his initial attacks. I need to hit 3 of 4 attacks needing sixes to win this, and proceed to hit none of them.
Wurmwood gets his wooden tush ported back out of the way.
Legion turn 5:
My opponent kills nearly everything I have left and passes with 8 seconds left on his clock.
Circle turn 5:
I activate everything and do nothing and then pass back, and my opponent clocks.
Pseudo-Victory for the Druids.
Post-Game Thoughts:
I don't think Circle has a super viable way to deal with this outside of maybe dude-spam with Tanith or Baldur 2 and two Wraths. Dice - 11 on Shredders seems okay, and if you hide Baldur behind Forests behind the Wraths, he's not getting charged, even on her feat turn when the Shredders can see over the Woldwraths.
Had we not derped up on my opponents time, I probably lose this game - I just couldn't kill enough Shredders fast enough. I would actually be very interested to see what this list can do against some of the big, bad scary jack spams out there - it's like Una 2 but...better? We shall see.