Battle Report 73: ATC Round 3 - Kaya 3 vs. Zaal 2

Prologue:

We had taken a solid beating the round before, and my team was getting pretty frustrated going into round 3. We needed a win here.

I ended up against Skorne with Zaal 2 being his most likely drop since he denies Wurmwood souls.

I decided to drop Kaya in a fit of "screw it", and off we went.


Kaya 3
- Loki
- Stalker
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Argus

Blackclad x2
Gobber Chef

Sentry Stones x2
Shifting Stones

vs.

Zaal 2
- Agonizer
- Shaman
- Raider
- Drake

Hakaar
Ancestral

Tyrant Commander and Standard
Immortals and CA
Karax
Arcuarri
Min Slingers

The Scenario was Recon, and I won the roll, choosing to go first.

My opponent took the side of the table with the forest to hide Zaal behind.

Circle turn 1:

Full speed ahead!

Fog of War goes up, and everything runs. The Feral even warps speed and runs sixteen inches.

Loki gets in his nice Shifting Stone palace.

Skorne turn 1:

Zaal moves up, casts Aura of Power on himself and Vision on Hakaar.

Everything else runs at me, the TyCom giving the Karax pathfinder.

Circle turn 2:

I see two avenues here. I can kill...almost literally everything in his entire army, or I can kill two models, port Loki up, hook Zaal and call it a game.

I opt for the latter.

Kaya casts Synergy and Feats.

Argus and Pureblood go in and build up the chain, repositioning back.

Blackclad #1 sprays down the two Immortals blocking my drag path.

Loki gets ported up, warps Strength and boosts to hit Zaal, needing not triple 1s. I hit, dice -1, and yank him in. I bash him a bit more before repositioning out of melee.

Blackclad #2 casts Hunters Mark at Zaal.

The Feral warps Strength and charges Zaal for free. Zaal is at 6 boxes with one transfer left at this point, and the Feral kills him on his third initial.

Post-Game Thoughts:

Ah Loki. I love you so much.

If I hadn't gone for that, the plan was for both Blackclads to charge Immortals and then get Battle Wizard Sprays to clear nigh unto all of the unit.

Sentry Stones kill Karax easily when not in Shield wall, and Slingers die to everything. I think at the end of my turn, my opponent would have had his Arcuarri, a few Karax, and an immortal or two, plus his rather pillowfisted battlegroup.

Kaya at DEF 21 in the rubble and under feat isn't dying to spell assassinations, and I proceed to win on Scenario over a couple of turns.

My team went 4-1 this round, with two games ending in assassination and 5 control points and nigh unto max army points. A good end to Day 1.


Day 2 games coming shortly!

Battle Report 72: ATC Round 2 - Wurmwood vs. Issyria

Prologue:

This round was into Tom Guan's team, which I knew was going to be very hard.

Unfortunately, Tom didn't take the Circle bait, so no epic rematch here, and I get paired into a really gross Issyria gunline, with Rahn as a second list.

I drop Wurmwood, he drops Issyria.

Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Loki
- Pureblood
- Gorax
- Woldwyrd x3

Shifting Stones x2
Sentry Stones x2
Min Bonegrinders
Bokur and Shamblers


Issyria
- Hyperion
- Chimera

Elara 1
- Discordia

Arcantrik Force Generator (AFG from now on)

Mechanic

Mage Hunter Strike Force and CA

The Scenario was The Pit, and I won the roll, going first.

My opponent straight up admitted the MHSF were there to contest

Circle turn 1:

Full speed ahead! Everything moves up and gets as much cover or LOS blockage as possible.

Ret turn 1:

My opponent runs his Chimera up and casts Blinding Light on my left unit of Sentry Mannikins. Ick.

Hyperion and AFG run up, and Discordia Imprints and sticks herself between them.

Circle turn 2:

I HAVE to kill that Chimera or the game is over. Blinding Light on Wurmwood is GG.

I have to put two Woldwyrds and a few sprays into it, but the thing dies.

I should have probably popped my Feat here, but I delay thinking that the majority of my forces are safe. I forget Issyria has Arcane Vortex, so I try and Stranglehold Hyperion before realizing my plan is doomed to fail and Dark Pathing him back to me.

I keep everything important behind the Sentry Stones.

Ret turn 2:

Issyria feats and moves back to Ancillary Attack Hyperion, who gets his crit and removes half my Shamblers.

Hyperion activates and kills both Sentry Stones and dings up my Woldwyrd.

The AFG aims and kills the left Woldwyrd.

Discordia moves over next to Hyperion after spraying down a bunch of things thanks to Elara's Speed of Death. (Or Silence of Death, whichever it is).

MHSF contest my flag.


Anddddd my opponent killboxes themself and I get to points.

Score 2-0

Advantage Circle

Circle turn 3:

I think I can probably kill Discordia with Loki this turn. I also remember I have a Gorax and deploy him at the back edge of the table.

Loki goes first, hooks Discordia and all but kills her before casting Evasive. 

The Shambler unit charges Discordia in the back and does the last few damage.

A Shifting Stone ports up, and Wurmwood activates. He casts Hellmouth on the Stone, killing a bunch of MHSF. He then casts Curse of Shadows on the AFG and Feats.

My two remaining Woldwyrds leave the Battle Enging on about 5, and the Pureblood spray doesn't quite finish the deal.

I get a third point.

Score 3-0

 Advantage Circle

Ret turn 3:

He thinks good and hard for a minute before loading up Hyperion. His plan is to slam Loki with the AFG and then to trample up and kill him with Hyperion. 

The AFG aims and needs an unboosted 7 to miss Loki in the forest. He misses, and Loki dodges away behind the wall. He shoots again, misses the 9, and Loki moves to the other side of the wall, well away from Hyperion.

Strike Force Contest again, and Hyperion shreds my remaining Shamblers with guns. 

Score 3-0

Advantage Circle

Circle turn 4:

I upkeep Curse of Shadows and it's time to go to work. 

The AFG dies. Loki moves up and hooks Elara, killing her. 

The Pureblood murders the close Strike Force. I try and Hellmouth the remaining Force on the hill, but they refuse to die. 

I run the Bokur up in front of Hyperion so he can't trample without wasting his Ancillary Attack on him. 

I score a fourth point. 

Score 4-0 

Advantage Circle

Ret turn 4:

My opponent loads up Hyperion, and Ancillary Attacks after Issyria gets on the flag. The attack misses. He moves Hyperion over, and is just out of range for Starburst on Wurmwood. His little gun shots don't kill him, and my opponent ends his turn rather than contest once more. 

Score 5-1

Victory to the Druids!

Post-Game Thoughts:

I should have feated a turn earlier, and the game really came down to the unboosted seven my opponent needed. If he hits it, I think I lose. Because he didn't, I had massive threats on the table still. 

My team lost this round 1-4 sadly. 

Battle Report 71: ATC Round 1 - Wurmwood vs. Butcher 3

Prologue:

Team tournaments are very weird, but very cool. You bring lists that aren't necessarily Steamroller optimized, with the idea that you can get matchups you want and avoid those you don't (assuming your Captain isn't really dumb - which I can say because I was my team Captain).

ATC was a frustrating, exhilarating event, and I won't go into the non-game stuff in these battle reports very much. Suffice to say that models were forgotten, cold walks in the frigid Milwaukee nights were taken, and much fun was had.

Round 1, I was into Khador playing Vlad 1 and Butcher 3. I was 100% certain he was playing Butcher 3 here, and I went for Wurmwood because A) I've played this matchup a bunch and B) it was Outlast, which is a Wurmwood Scenario if there is one.



Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Loki
- Pureblood
- Gorax
- Woldwyrd x3

Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Min Bonegrinders
Gatormen Bokur and Shamblers


vs.

Butcher 3
- War Argii
- War Dog
- Ruin
- Kodiak x2
- Juggernaut
- Marauder

Widowmaker Marksman
Harlan Versh

Widowmakers
Kayazy Eliminators x2
Min Mechaniks

He won the roll off and decided to go first, and I chose the side with the most walls because Loki hates those on the opposite table edge.

He deployed pretty standard, and I put everything important back 1.1 inches so that the Widowmakers couldn't pop my AD line turn 1.

Khador turn 1:

My opponent moves the Widowmakers up cautiously. Kayazy run up the table.

Butcher casts Silence of Death on Ruin (and my ears perk up a bit) and his battlegroup moves up the table.

He's staying pretty far back, respecting Loki maybe a touch too much.

Circle turn 1:

Based off what my opponent has done here, I know I'm making a strong play for the left zone ASAP. There's only one heavy over there, and if he continues to commit only the Marauder, it's a simple matter to hook it and kill it with Loki, using the forest to keep the rest of his nonsense at bay.

The Bone Grinders murder eachother for souls and corpses, and my beasts all book it left to the trench, except Loki who stays central inside some Stones.

My right side Woldwyrd goes into the rubble with some Mannikins.

I cast Wild Growth on the left side of the table so I can move my Shamblers up, and put Curse of Shadows on the left hand Kodiak.

Khador turn 2:

He upkeeps Silence of Death, which isn't that big of a deal right now since Ruin is on the side of the table with only one Woldwyrd.

Widowmakers and Marksmen kill Mannikins galore. The Marauder toes the zone, and the Kayazy all stay out.

Ruin, in a surprise move, comes to the left side of the table, and there's a Kayazy in front of him to dissuade any drag attempts.

Both Kodiaks move up and Vent Steam, toeing the zone.

Circle turn 2:

I debate several plans here. I can easily hook and kill the Marauder, no problem there. Unfortunately, this requires either Curse of Shadows or Primal, and I don't want to do either of those things here.

Curse means activating Wurmwood first, and I need to feat and dominate the left zone this turn.

Primal means a frenzying beast, and I can't afford that yet.

I eventually decided that Loki is going to hook in the Cursed Kodiak, and then the Bokur is killing the Kodiak under feat.

I can  Hellmouth the Marauder out of the zone, blast Ruin halfway to death with Wyrds, and get two points, all while killing his Marksmen and a couple of Widowmakers.

First things first, both Woldwyrds blast Ruin, leaving him on five or six.

Loki moves up and hooks the Kodiak in, beating him a bit and then casting Evasive. 

The Bokur moves up and kills the Kodiak dead.

I miss Mannikin sprays on Versh (sad), but kill the Eliminator in front of Ruin with one.

Cassius moves up, and I port Wurmwood over.

Wurmwood Hellmouths the Marauder out of the zone, killing the Marksman, a Kayazy, and a Widowmaker, and then Feats.

I score two points.

Score 2-0

Advantage Circle

Khador turn 3:

My opponent drops Silence of Death like a hot potato. Unfortunately, I've pulled Ruin back into Mechanic range.

We measure out what he can and cannot see, and my opponent loads up the remaining Kodiak.

Butcher activates, casts Energizer, and gets in the zone.

The Kodiak charges a Shambler and Vents Steam before attacking, killing it. He boosts both initials and the throw into Loki, chucking him way away but not killing him.

His Marauder runs into the zone, and a Kayazy toes it in cover on the left.

His Juggernaut moves up behind the Kodiak to be a nice counterpunch, and Harlan moves up to shoot at the Sentry Stone, failing to kill it.

Score 2-0

Advantage Circle

Circle turn 3:

It's go time! Both the Gorax and Loki shake KD.

Versh has to die and the Argus needs to die. Once that happens, the right zone is mine.

In the left zone, Curse of Shadows plus Primal should equal a dead Marauder, and I can get an aiming Mannikin spray into the Kayazy.

Fingers crossed.

I can't kill Versh with any of my Sentry sprays on the right side.

The Woldwyrd moves up and blasts the Argus to death.

I run Cassius over, and run a Shambler to 3 inches from Versh.

Wurmwood activates and Hellmouth's the Shambler. Versh is dragged in, and a boosted damage roll kills him.

Curse of Shadows goes onto the Marauder.

The Gorax moves up and Primals the Pureblood, who warps Strength and kills the Marauder easily after the Wyrds soften it up a bit.

The Mannikin hits and kills the Kayazy, leaving both zones uncontested, so I score 3 more points.

Post-game Thoughts

Hurray for forests, that one was a big deal. Butcher also can't really brick up here, so Loki gets to prey on his army and get me free heavies, which is always good.

My team won the round 4-1, and we moved on.

Battle Report 70: Wurmwood vs. Fyanna 2 (Ravens of War)

Prologue:

I knew I'd have to play into this theme force eventually, and there's no better time to do that for the first time than when you're not playing in a tournament with things on the line!

Quick summary - Ravens of War gives you a few benefits, but the one I care about the most is that it removes the Advanced Deployment rule from your opponents models. This is a big deal against Circle since the following models basically get neutered without that:

Sentry Stones
Shifting Stones
Wurmwood
Gallows Groves
Cassius
Bloodtrackers

That's a pretty big chunk of stuff to nerf with a theme force. Time to get to it!


My Wurmwood list, now featuring Loki:


Wurmwood
- Cassius
- Pureblood
- Loki
- Gorax
- Woldwyrd x3

Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stone x2
Bone Grinders (min)
Gatorman Bokur

Against:

Fyanna 2
- Archangel
- Angelius
- Seraph

Forsaken x2
Spell Martyr
Deathstalker x2

Raptors (max)

I won the roll off and windmill slammed going first, since I already lose six inches of deploy and going first means that my Sentry Stones get to be on the 12 inch line turn 1.

Look how freaking clumped up my models are >< 

My opponent skewed hard to the left, obviously going for a quick dominate of his zone on turn 2.

Circle turn 1:

I quite honestly didn't know what to do. I felt like I could probably block him out of my zone and dominate on his turn. He'd have to risk losing his Archangel just to contest.

With that in mind, everything pushed up the table as far as they could go after the Bone Grinders murdered eachother. I cast Wild Growth on the Woldwyrd on the hill to make it DEF 17 against the Raptors and Deathstalkers (the only things that could get to it) and passed the turn after dumping a bunch of fury.

I'd set up my Shifting Stones so that the back unit could port Wurmwood up and the front unit could spread out around him on turn 1.

Legion turn 2:

He can't really afford to cast any of his upkeeps, because Woldwyrds will tear Legion models apart with Purgation, so he drops fury and moves everything up. The Archangel gets a decent LOS to my models and stays behind the house. The Raptors move up, shoot the Woldwyrd three times, miss their hard tens, and reposition.

Circle turn 2:

I think it's time to make that Archangel pretty useless for the rest of the game.

Cassius runs after I get ten fury and drop Wild Growth.

Wurmwood activates and puts Curse of Shadows on the Archangel. He then Strangleholds the beast for 6 damage, and pulls Cassius back.

I move up my pair of right side Wyrds to the lee of the house, meaning the Archangel can't get LOS to them to shoot unless he moves, but he's Strangleheld so if he DOES move, he can't shoot.

The first two proceed to knock the Dragon down to about 10 boxes of health. The third one moves up and blasts it off the table.

Well then...

The averages are actually pretty good here. Each Wyrd is dice off 4, so two boosted damage shots is 6.5/6.5 and then a non boosted is 3, for a total of 17 damage per Wyrd, or 51 damage between the three. Add the 5-6 likely from Stranglehold, and that's a dead Archangel.

The rest of the turn is just routine. Wurmwood gets ported to the zone, Shamblers run to contest, and a Mannikin sprays a Deathstalker down.

Legion turn 2:

The remaining Deathstalker kills the contesting Shamblers. Fyanna moves up, Feats, and tries to get the Bokur with a Gallows, but misses.

The Seraph charges the Bokur and kills him.

We both score a point.

Score 1-1

Tie!

Circle turn 3:

On his feat turn, I can't get hardly anything done, so I don't really try to. 

Curse of Shadows on the objective, charges with Shamblers. 

I put every single shot I can into the objective minus Loki's hook, and it takes everything I've got to kill it. (It was Bunker). 

I pass the turn, going to three points. 

Score 3-1

Advantage Circle

Legion turn 3:

I've clogged up the board too well, he can't make it to my zone without Apparition on his Seraph, which would have to take free strikes from both of my heavies and a Woldwyrd to get there.

He kills some things, but can't contest. I score to 4.

Score 4-2

Advantage Circle

Circle turn 4:

I activate everything and do nothing, going to five as he scores his third point. 

Score 5-3

Victory for the Druids!

Post Game Thoughts:

If I hadn't gotten to go first here, I'm fairly certain I lose this game. His army is so fast and my army is SO slow without Advanced Deployment that I think I get shoved out of his zone and he just dominates every turn for the win.

Woldwyrds continue to impress me, consistently being both useful and game altering as they force my opponents to play without upkeeps or die. Having 6 fairly accurate boosted POW 14 guns with Curse of Shadows is a weird feeling in Circle, but I have to say that I really like it.

I probably won't get any more games in until ATC, but I will be posting updates every round on my Facebook page, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading :)

Battle Report 69 - Kaya 3 vs. Amon Ad-Raza

Prologue:

I have beaten this Amon list exactly never, and I was excited to have a chance to tear through his Jacks as easily as he tears through my beasts.

Up until recently (Feb 22 to be exact), I don't think Circle even had a chance in this matchup. Loki completely changed that, since now I can force him to come to me and pick off heavies one at a time.

I am practicing my Kaya 3 list for ATC in this battle report:

Kaya 3
- Loki
- Stalker
- Pureblood
- Feral
- Argus

Blackclad x2
Gobber Chef

Sentry Stone x2
Shifting Stones

And minor point of pride - I was playing fully painted (if not quite fully based), aw yeah.

My opponent's list was:

Amon
- Heirophant
- Blood of Martyrs
- Hand of Judgment
- Reckoner x2
- Crusader

Punch Monk

Max Choir

I lost the roll off and had to go second.

I chose the side with the wall, since that was basically the make or break piece of terrain on the table.

Look at all the heavies....

Menoth turn 1:

My opponent's choir placement here cost him, as he had to keep the jacks from running full distance in order to get any songs the next turn.

Fortify goes on the Crusader, Synergy on Amon. Punch Monk does his thing, and everyone moves up.

Circle turn 1:

It is premeasured that the Punch Monk can't contest my flag and go Shifting Sands next turn, and that the Crusader can't charge anything on my side of the wall since his base would end up on the wall.

With that in mind I set up to murder it if it comes to contest.

Kaya puts Synergy up and moves to the flag. Feral and Argus go right, Pureblood and Loki go left.

The Stalker stays right in the middle.

Menoth turn 2:

My opponent thinks about his turn for a second, and then decides to jam two heavies down my throat and setup for the counterpunch. He upkeeps both spells.

He plans to charge Blood in, Side Step twice, kill a Sentry Stone, and make me deal with him.

He's also going to put his Crusader in contesting range of the Flag.

Blood charges in and...misses his first attack. He kills the Mannikin with his second, and then backs up a smidge.

Crusader and Punch Monk both come in, and his Jacks pile in behind. Hand sprays Loki for a few damage. All of the Jacks except the Crusader get "no spells" on them.

Circle turn 2:

Okay the plan is to....kill Blood with the Feral, kill Hand with Loki and Stalker, and kill the Crusader with the Pureblood under Kaya's feat.

I premeasure carefully to also ensure that I can get my Gobber Chef to pull off Hot Meal on two heavies at the beginning of my next turn.

I upkeep Synergy.

Gobber Chef runs into the middle, and the Blackclad moves into melee with the Crusader on the left, hitting it with Hunters Mark.

Kaya moves around the flag, dings the Crusader to start the Synergy Chain, and then Feats, casts Wraithbane on the Pureblood, and Repositions back to the Flag.

Synergy 1.

The Argus charges and Combo Strikes Blood for 8 or so damage. The Feral goes in and murders blood with initials. Both reposition back at end of their activations.

Synergy 3.

Loki gets ported up and hooks Hand of Judgment, killing him.

The Pureblood goes into the Crusader and....rolls 4 for damage four times in a row, leaving the Jack on life support. I try to kill it with Mannikin sprays, but it won't die, and I can't get the Stalker in to do anything, so he backs up.

I do kill the Vassal though!

No scenario points :(

The right side Blackclad contests the flag, taking a potshot at Amon and doing 5 damage.

Menoth turn 3:

Amon upkeeps Synergy but drops Fortify. He goes first, pops his Feat, Fortifies the right hand Reckoner, and charges the Blackclad, boosting to hit and killing it.

Synergy 1.

The left side Reckoner boosts a shot into the Feral, flaring him.

The Castigator charges Loki, but leaves him on one.

The Crusader does next to nothing, and the Right Reckoner fails to kill the Pureblood.

Circle turn 3:

I pull off Hot Meal on two of my beasts thanks to placing Mannikins, and nothing frenzies.

I put the Feral into the Castigator, but I forgot about Fortify so he ends his activation by putting Primal on the Stalker.

The Stalker gets ported up, kills the Castigator and...doesn't kill the Reckoner, but does cripple his club.

The Pureblood kills the Crusader easily.

Kaya heals Loki and moves to the right.

The Argus moves away from the Reckoner, and my opponent rolls the single dice hard six he needs and does a few damage into him.

The Argus moves up and casts Doppler Bark on Amon. He then Combo Strikes him, boosting damage at PS 19, and kills him, robbing Loki of his kill.

Victory for the Druids!

Post-Game Thoughts:

Not going first in this matchup sucks. 

I was lucky in two ways - 1) there was an awesome wall on my side of the table and 2) my opponent messed his deployment and first turn up by not running the choir full tilt at me so that his jacks could have been up the board. 

Very interesting game, I'm sure I'll be playing it again sometime soon. 

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? 

Trinket Review: Broken Egg Games' Aspect Widgets

After this near catastrophe of a game, I resolved to get something to mark my beasts' knocked out aspects on the table so that I wouldn't ever make similar mistakes again.

After doing a lot of research and briefly contemplating making my own, I settled on Broken Egg Games' Aspect Widgets, and I haven't had a single regret. After reading this review, you can get them here.

Price:

These guys are a steal at $2.50 (US Dollars) for a pack of three (one each of Mind, Body, and Spirit). Cheap enough to get multiple sets for those lists with a plethora of beasts, and certainly inexpensive enough to store with other tokens, and widgets without undue fear of damage. These aren't likely to get damaged easily though since....


Quality:

These are fantastic pieces when it comes to quality. They are laser cut out of Alderwood, and after over a month of near constant use, mine show no wear at all.

The wood is thick enough that it feels very sturdy, and the words are etched in clearly enough to read from the other side of the table.


Ease of Use:

Again, very little to complain about here. The tokens are easy to see and read, they don't distract from the game, and they are very light.

Their size can occasionally be problematic in a very tight place, but it has not been nearly enough of an issue for me to recommend changing it.

Side Note - when they're all spiraled together, they make a 40 mm diameter circle, so if you need a medium sized proxy base, these would do in a pinch.

Side Side Note - They can also be used as Wolverine claws when you're bored on your opponents' turn.



Conclusion:

At an awesome price point and very high level of quality, I can't recommend these widgets more. I've used them religiously since I bought them, and have yet to forget to heal a beast back up in any of my roughly 20 games since (which is pretty impressive for me).

They're well made, conveniently sized, and would be a great addition for any Hordes players widget box.

Final Note - they look amazing when you take the time to paint them up