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!)

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 lovers friends army.

Menoth gets two points!

Score 0-2

Advantage Menoth

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.

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.