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.

I feel so outnumbered :(

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.

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. 

 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.

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.