Steamroller with Lylyth3 and Bethayne

Hi everyone ! Yesterday I travelled far up North in the mystical land of Saguenay, to the peaceful town of Chicoutimi for a Steamroller. It was about a 2h-2h30 ride, but I was carpooling with someone else and also it was the only tournament I could attend during my 10 days vacation.

There was a list a really wanted to try out with Bethayne. I know she's mainly regarded as a low-tier caster in Legion, but she can pool out some great synergy.

Bethayne, Voice of Everblight
- Belphagor (obviously)
- Angelius
- Nephilim Soldier
- Harrier
- Harrier
Max. Grotesque Raiders
Max. Grotesque Raiders
Scout Striders
- Officer and Musician
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Warlord
Grotesque Assassin
Grotesque Assassin
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
Spell Martyr
Spell Martyr
Obj: Effigy of Valour

The idea was to combine the Feat, with either Disintegration and/or Kiss of Lyliss with a lot of Grotesques to take down the heavy targets. The Scout Striders were there for jamming and deal with High-ARM single wound models. I hesitated quite a lot about going in theme or not, but losing the Blackfrost Shard, the Warlord (two very powerful tools) and the Shepherds was too much for me.

My other list was my "Classic Lylyth3".

Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight
- Archangel
- Typhon
- Nephilim Soldier
- Naga Nightlurker
Min. Blighted Nyss Raptors
Annyssa Ryvaal
The Forsaken
Blighted Nyss Shepherd
Obj: Armoury

First round was Extraction against Cygnar. I played Lylyth because of my opponent Nemo3 list with a lot of electro-leap would probably have killed my infantry too easily if I had taken Bethayne.

Theme: Heavy Metal
Nemo3
- Finch
- Squire
- Dynamo
- Reliant
- Reliant
- Firefly
Storm Strider
Capt. Arlan Strangeways
Journeyman Warcaster
- Firefly
Lt. Allison Jakes
- Thunderhead
Obj: Bunker

My opponent won the roll-off and choose the table side with a trench since he was worry about an early assassination from Lylyth. There was also a large obstruction (a house) in the middle of the table, and she will play an important role. I deployed Lylyth and the Archangel centrally, with the lights and solos between them. Typhon was next to Lylyth, with Annyssa on the right flank and the Raptors on the left flank. He deployed his Battle Engine in the middle, with Nemo and Solos close to the trench. A Reliant and Dynamo were also close to the trench, with the other Reliant and Nemo's Firefly on the other side of the Storm Strider. The Journeyman (which was Annyssa's prey) with the Firefly faced Annyssa while Jakes and Thunderhead faced the Raptors. In the early turn, my priority was to kill the Storm Strider to get a view on Nemo. Durgin my opponent Feat turn, he rolled badly to hit, and left Typhon with a couple of boxes and didn't do much against my Archangel either. Thunderhead killed all the Raptors with his pulse, but he was far from the "action" and facing the wrong direction, so I was ok with it. Lylyth also killed Strangeways early, activating Blood Boon (so Wind Wall, basically) and take out his only way to get magic weapon. The turn I finally killed the Strom Strider (just after his feat actually), my Archangel was toeing the left flag but was contested by a Firefly, Typhon frenzied into the other Firefly, and Annyssa killed Finch. On his next turn, my opponent moved back the contesting Firefly and moved closer with Thunderhead, but I still scored once during his turn. On my turn, combined shots from the Bolt Thrower and the Archangel killed his Bunker, and the Nephilim was on the right flag, which put me at 4. Lylyth also killed the last Firefly while hiding being the house and Annyssa takes care of the Squire. My opponent was left with no choice but to come out after me to stop me from scoring. Thunderhead charged my Archangel but didn't close anything. Dynamo and a Reliant didn't successfully kill my Bolt Thrower because of poor rolls, but still both flags were contested by at two 'jacks each (the second Reliant was close to the left one, but not in melee range of the Archangel). That left Nemo open in the trench, all alone with no big 'jacks blocking my line of sight, camping 4 Focus. Lylyth went back right and used her Feat, boosting to hit, needing a 10. I got it, freezing Nemo into place. Annyssa went from behind and shoot 2 arrows. Nemo was on 4 boxes, still camping 1. My Archangel flew over the house, taking a free strike from Thunderhead that closed is Mind. Nonetheless, Nemo being at DEF 5, even in a trench, I only needed a 3+ on one dice to hit. I did it with the first shot and with boosted damage, killed Nemo.

1-0

My second game was against Retribution of Scyrah and the scenario was Recon. Both my opponent list had 3 Manticores, and I believe they were both in theme, so I didn't want to play Lylyth into that. I went with Bethayne.

Magister Helynna
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr
- Discordia
- Manticore
- Manticore
- Manticore
- Chimera
Max. Dawnguard Sentinels
- Officer & Banner
Lanyssa Ryssyl
Arcanist
Arcanist
Arcanist
Lys Healer
Obj: Bunker

My opponent won the roll-off and choose the table side. I deployed from left to right: Grotesque & Assassin, Spell Martyr & Shepherd, a Harrier, Angelius, Belphagor, Bethayne, Nephilim Soldier, Nyss Warlord, a Harrier, Spell Martyr & Shepherd and Grotesque with Assassin. Bethayne was in the middle of the board with the Blackfrost Shard behind her. My opponent deployed from left to right a Manticore, Sentinels in the middle with Discordia in the middle of them and Helynna behind them, the Chimera with the Arcanist behind, and the two last Manticore. I split my Scouts 4 on each side of my objective. My first turn I ran everything forward without going into the Sentinels charge range. Bethayne cast Blood Thorn on the Scouts. My opponent moved forward but did not engage me. He placed his covering fire template so that I couldn't charge anywhere (not sure I had the distance). On my turn, my Scouts put Corrosion on 7 Sentinels (they were ARM 24+) and engaged them with reposition. Bethayne cast Cloak of Ash on them so they were at DEF 17 against the Sentinels. My Grotesques ran and I sent one on each Manticore to stop him from putting down covering fire. On his second turn, 4 Sentinels died from the Corrosion. He only killed 1 of my Scouts and could put down any covering fire, but Discordia killed 2 Grotesque with a spray, and with Rythm of War, his 'jacks came closer, stopping some of my Grotesques from charging. Now on my third turn, I wanted to Feat, because on one side there was a Manticore and Discordia, but only 6 Grotesques, while on the other side, there was 2 Manticore and the Chimera, with about 8 Grotesques. I had to choose a side, and instead, I choose to stay behind my objective, waiting to see which side would need me to most. The out-most right Manticore died to my charging Grotesque (like 5 of them plus the Solo), and the Chimera died to 2 Grotesques and my Warlord. My Angelius charged Discordia, doing some damage. I also sent an Assassin and like 2 Grotesques, but she was left alive on 1 boxes... Still, she was Grievous Wounded so she won't heal back 10 boxes. The left Manticore take some damages from 4 Grotesque, but nothing much. The big surprise came from the Scouts in melee. Bethayne cast Blood Thorn back on them, and besides putting Corrosion on Discordia (which went away, snif...), they hit fairly well and killed four of them in melee (most of them were at ARM 15, but I got some I high roll), leaving only 2 of them with the Officer and the Banner. On my opponent turn, he did use his Feat, and Discordia killed the Assassin and a Scouts, while the right Manticore killed 2-3 Grotesques and the left one only one (some really bad dice roll here). Lanyssa killed my Warlord with an Ice Bolt too, and the Sentinels killed two more Scouts. Back to my turn, I felt like the left side was a good place to punch through, as 3 Grotesques wouldn't take down a Manticore by themselves. I sent a Harrier to tag her then I used my Feat (plus cast a Disintegration on the right Manticore through a Spell Martyr) and make a place for the Blackfrost Shard to charge the left Manticore, killing it on the spot. Despite the Feat, my two Grotesques failed to kill Discordia and I needed my Angelius to do the job. My Soldier charged the Sentinel Officer but failed to kill him... Lanyssa got killed by two Grotesques while the rest of the unit and the assassin went to the last Manticore, but she was under Helynna's Feat so I didn't do much. On my opponent turn, the Sentinels killed all but my Scout Officer, and only 3 Grotesques were left alive on the right flank. Helynna started moving backwards too. On my turn, the TO announced 1 minutes left on global and moved next to our table (we both had about 2 minutes left on each clock). I still want with the plan I had in mind, and ran Bethayne to the left flag since there was no enemy model in a large radius and it would be easy to defend. I also tried to kill the objective with the Angelius but failed, and it was dice down. I went 1-0 on CP, giving me the win.

If the game hadn't ended on the dice down, I was still in a pretty good position. I still had all my beasts at full health, Bethayne sitting on a flag and I would have killed the objective with a couple of Grotesques in that turn, which would have put me at 2 (maybe 3 if I cleared the 3 Sentinels in the zone), with no way for him to contest Bethayne.

2-0

For my third game, the Scenario was Take and Hold. I also played Bethayne. I won't go into any more details about the game as my opponent and I had a disagreement during the game and he conceded.

3-0

Overall, the day went pretty well. It was a big event with a total of 21 players (and a playable bye), and after the third game, we were 3 players at 3-0. I finished 3rd of the tournament from the SOS, which was great ! I would also take the time to thanks the organisation. The emplacement was great and easy to find for someone who never went to the town before, plus the local had plenty of space and each table had about 2 extra feet on the side for model trays and gaming material, which was really nice.

Now onto a more important debriefing: Bethayne, Voice of Everblight. I have heard from a lot of people that she's not very good and all, but I still wanted to give her a try. Of course, I built a list to maximise her Feat and the way to apply the bonus. I find out that Harriers are great for that ! They run very far and people don't really mind them as they are not a big threat. I also loved to Angelius, because he can charge the Debuffed target with his Armour Piercing attack and there is still place for Grotesques between the two bases, and if Grotesques are toe-to-toe with the enemy, they can't hit back the beast unless they have a 2" melee range. The list is also very good at jamming, of course, and you can screen Bethayne relatively well if you want to go after the scenario, which I recommend. Indeed, I realise that in late game, when the number of Grotesques starts running low and the Feat is done, she might lack some big game finisher. Like I'm not sure Grotesques alone, even with Gang, could take down a solid Warcaster/Warlock. Plus, they list would probably struggle against dual Colossal/Gargantuan. So you want to go after the Scenario as soon as you can, but being only 16/13, even with Dodge, you don't really want to commit her until the spot is safe.

Considering it was my first time playing her and playing Grotesques, I would give her a good 7 out of 10. She's no Lylyth 3 nor Absy 2 or Thag 1, but she can definitely do some work.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave some comments !

PS: Just a reminder, I leave for a month at sea in a few days, so don't expect too much from me, sorry...

There's something lurking in the corner...

Guess who's back, back again

Durgil's back, tell a friend

Guess who's back,

guess who's back,

guess who's back,

guess who's back,

guess who's back.

guess who's back...

So let me explain something very important. I'm a sailor, and as such, I have a hard time to produce blog posts while I'm at sea. And since I graduate from Maritime School last Spring, I'm still trying to get a regular job on a schedule, which is kind of hard. Therefore, I apologise to everyone who follows my blog for the letdown. I will try to warn in advance when the blog will be down, and maybe I will be able to produce articles in advance at some point (for my sea period), but for now, this is it.

So, I will be at sea from March 22th to April 19th, so don't expect much from me between those two dates.

Now more on the subject, Grymkin are around the corner and since I like the faction feels, I've given a shot at that CID thing.

Here a battle report of the game I played this morning !

Theme: Bump In The Night

The Heretic +29
- Cage Rager 14
- Skin & Moans 15
- Skin & Moans 15
- 2x Crabbits 7
Max. Hollowmen 14
- Lantern Man 0
Min. Dread Rots 7
Min. Dread Rots 7
Murder Crows 9
Murder Crows 9
Lord Longfellow 0
Trapperkin 3
Trapperkin 3
Cask Imp 1

Theme: Forges of War
Adeptis Rahn +26
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker 0
- Discordia 18
- Hydra 15
- Manticore 14
- Manticore 14
- Griffon 8
- Chimera 8
House Shyeel Battle Mages 10
House Shyeel Battle Mages 10
House Shyeel Artificer 0
Arcanist Mechanik 0
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2

Scenario: Incursion
My opponent won the first roll and decide to go first, so I choose the side with a hill. I also choose the Arcana Ruins and The Shadow, plus Reckoning since it is the Trump Arcana.

This is after the deployment. As you can see, I use my Legion models for the Grymkin. Scythean/Ravagore are Skin & Moans, Zuriel is the Cage Rager, Swordmen are Dread Rots, empty bases lead by a Pot Grunt are Murder Crows, Shredders are Crabbits, Lylyth2 is Longfellow, Thagrosh1 is The Heretic, The Forsaken are Trapperkin, the Gobber is the Cask Imp and the mix of shooters are the Hollowmen, lead by a Spell Martyr as Lantern Man. Of course, one unit of Murder Crows is in Ambush and the other Prey on Discordia.

The general strategy of the list is to have a unit of Dread Rots to fuel each Skin & Moans, and use the Murder Crows as heavy hitters with the Skin & Moans. My opponent sadly doesn't have much living, but we will try our best.

At the end of both first turn, the Grymkin army is doing great, withstanding 0 casualty so far. The Griffon has the "No Charge" spell and the Murder Crows have Fury. The Cask Imp rolled 1 so he didn't go very far.

After my opponent second turn, the evil Shyeel Mages have killed 4 Dread Rots and Discordia killed 1 Hollowman, and I triggered Reckoning on Discordia at that moment. Sadly she also hit The Heretic, so he won't be able to cast next turn. The Griffon take a defensive stance between the obstruction to block the way for my second unit of Murder Crows, while a Manticore face my Murder Crows and place a covering fire between her and the obstruction, so I don't run in her backfield. A crabbit jump in to protect Longfellow from the Hydra shot. The Cask Imp die to a Mage spell.

Vendetta, vendetta !! I kept the second Murder Crows in reserve. I used the Hollowmen in CRA against Discordia, but I forgot the +2 to hit and miss 3 of my 4 CRA, doing only 3 damages. On the plus side, Longfellow showed them how to do it by doing a lot of damages. A Skin and Moans went next an killed Discordia with his two initial (including a charge attack). The Murder Crows prey went on the Manticore in front of them (niark niark niark, my cunning plan is coming into place) and the general army Reckoning went to the Chimera. My second Skin & Moans charged the Chimera, killed it, and the Reckoning went on the Manticore. Now the trap is all set, and 4 Murder Crows charge the Manticore with MAT 12 P+S 18. She died. She died reaaaall good. The Reckoning went on the black Shyeel Mages and the Murder Crows prey on the white Shyeel Mages. The last 2 Dread Rots on the left issued a Run/Charge Order, and with killed 1 Mages, giving the corpse to the Skin & Moans. I also get 1 Scenario point for the right flag.

On my opponent third turn, he killed the left Dread Rots first, then used his Feat. He cast Chain Blast into the bundle of Hollowmen, but I used Ruin to counter it. He then cast it again and killed Longfellow with 4 Hollowmen, but failed to use Telekinesis on the right Skin & Moans. Rahn was left with 0 Focus. The Hydra attacked the right Skin & Moans and closed his Spirit, while the Manticore attacked the left Skin & Moans. Both 'jacks had some buff on them, like +2 damage and some extra Focus from the Arcanist. The right Dread Rots are reduced to the leader only, but the Murder Crows hold on, losing no one.

Since Rahn is empty and very close to a Skin & Moans, an assassination opportunity arise. Since he used Telekinesis, The Heretic can also do it ! The Dread Rots leader charge the Shyeel Arcanist and killed it, giving a Corpse to the Skin & Moans and opening a nice way for the TK. The Heretic healed the Skin & Moans for 1 in the Spirit, did a boosted TK into Rahn, which hit, and a second on the Skin & Moans. Now I tried to maximise damage on Rahn by killing my own Dread Rots with the Hollowmen and did a CRA on Rahn, for a whopping total of 1 damage. My Skin & Moans then charged Rahn, who was presenting is back. He died to the initial, but I still boosted the charge attack to be sure.

** RED **

Nothing

** ORANGE **

Reckoning: While playing this power, it clearly felt to my as having a Feat Power Level, which is a bit too much, since I also had two other arcanas. On the other side, since it's a Trump Arcana, he is limited to The Heretic, but still feel very strong, as he allowed my to mulch through my opponent 'jack without any dice spike.

** YELLOW **

Murder Crows: In this game, they killed a Manticore with a kind of "gotcha" move and probably that this won't happen every game, but their potential with The Heretic seems maybe a bit too much for 9 pts. Maybe if Reckoning was straight Prey effect instead of just the wording, so it won't stack with the Murder Crows, that could be an interesting option.

The Heretic: I discussed the warlock with my opponent after the game, and while he didn't seem overpowered, both Reckoning and the Godlike ability were pivotal to the Grymkin Victory. His general power level feels strong, but maybe cutting back on Warbeast Point could be an option, or changing Fury for a +2 Str effect instead. Also, if the Reckoning is toned down, he would feel more reasonable.

Cask Imp: He's a nice little solo, and I would need to give him more table time, but I feel like he is too easy to kill.

** GREEN **

Dread Rots: They felt just right for the point cost. They die easily, but are cheap.

Lord Longfellow: Expensive solo that delivers, and that's how we like them.

Skin & Moans: Powerful, but they have a low ARM and SPD. Plus Corpse are not that easy to get so they felt just right.

Crabbit: They are basically Shield Guard and nothing else, but they protect key pieces.