Kryssa, Battle Box warlock of Everblight

Yep, you guessed it right, today is all about the latest girl in Everblight haram, Kryssa. She has been bullied around quite a lot since she came out, and I believe that needs to change, first because she's a blighted nyss being and therefore bullying her is like bullying Everblight himself, but also because, heck, she might be alright after all. Let now dive into it!

Her principal competition as a Warlock is Bethayne. As a matter of fact, this is the main reason Kryssa is downgraded. People always compare their feats and spell list, and Bethayne seems to come out on top in both department. I, for one, believe otherwise. Let start by looking at their feats: Kryssa's one is simple, plus 3 STR for everyone in 12" (the Continuous Fire is anecdotic because you can't realistically rely on it, and usually stuff die on Kryssa's feat). That's a good feat right there ! Now the Bethayne's one, warrior models gain Flank [Friendly Faction Warbeast]. A lot of people say it's better, because of the MAT bonus and that a dice is 3,5 instead of just 3. But the thing is, only warrior models get the bonus, and have you see a lot of those around recently ? You probably haven't, because there is just so much infantry hate in the game at the moment that almost no one (except Cephalyx) brings infantry units, Legion includes. I played against Bethayne the other day, and only 3 models had the bonus, while in the same situation, two of his beast would have had to bonus if it was Kryssa plus the 3 warrior models. And trust me, my opponent didn't waste his feat, because it was the only turn where he could hope to do so damage in melee before I completely remove his chances. Just think how strong epic Absylonia feat his, but now instead of Flight and Range 2, it's one more STR on every model. Personally, I would give the Feat part to Kryssa, just for the reason that our Beasts also have the bonus, which makes for a better combine arm then Bethayne.
Now the Spell List: they both have Cloak of Ash, so no need to discuss that one (they both like it equally). Invocation of Blood compete with Quickness has movement shenanigan, but while Quickness is more versatile, Invocation is more powerful. Venoms and Howling Flames are about the same, but the Bethayne's spray is a bit better because it costs less and she always has a good arc node. Tactical supremacy is a good spell, as is Disintegration, but they have very different roles. Overall, I would give the Spell List to Bethayne, because she has more good spells and also more Fury to manage them. Now if we look the warlock as a whole, Bethayne needs several beasts with a long melee range to trigger his feat, but she only provides 20 warbeast points, and she also wants a good chunk of infantry to pull the feat. Also, she's the squishiest of the squishy, won't do work by herself, and while Belphy has some game, you pay for him with fewer warbeast points. On the other hand, Kryssa has 31 warbeast points, which is plenty to take whatever she wants, and she wants about anything really (except what's in the Battle Box, that's just... argh !!). She can do some work by herself, even if it's only to use in last resort, and she can take a couple of hits. That's why, overall, in the current meta, I would place Kryssa equal if not over Bethayne as a warlock.

Now people might say: "U don't know what you're talking about ! Kryssa can't even do a soufflé !".
That's why I have decided to test her out on Sunday night against the Piggys of a local player.

Here's the list I made up for her:

Kryssa's Flying Circus
Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight
- Succubus
- Angelius
- Angelius
- Seraph
- Neraph
Max Blighted Nyss Swordmen
- Abbot & Champion
Blackfrost Shard
Blighted Nyss Warlord
Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Helion
Spell Martyr
Fuel Cache

I know it's probably not optimum. I'm very unsure about the Spell Martyr, I think he will just be shot off the board in no time, but I figured out that a Shepherd couldn't keep up with the battlegroup. The objective is to make out the most out of her feat, with P+S 17 Armour Piercing attacks, most probably charging for free (the Sorceress will also be the main target for the Succubus cloud since the cloud will stick to her and will also help her survive). That's all very theoretical, but we will see. If all go along the plan, the Swordmen will be defence 16, and the Blackfrost will have Tactical supremacy, so they can go more forward while casting and moving back. My main concern is Alten Ashley, because he can really ruin my day but 3 of my beasts can simply walk and boost a shot at him, so I should be okay.

***

So now I'm after the game. Here's the debriefing.

Helga
- War Hog
- War Hog
- Battleboar
Max Brigand
- Warlord
Min Bog Trog Ambusher
Min Bog Trog Ambusher
Razorback Crew
Razorback Crew
Bog Trog Mist Speaker
Totem Hunter
Gobber River
Gobber River
Effigy of Valour

The scenario we played was Extraction, and my opponent won the roll-off and choose his table edge. On his side of the table, there was a hill on the left and a wall and a forest on the right. On my side, there was a house and a wall on the left and a rough terrain on the right. Straight in the middle, a forest. I setup my battlegroup a mostly in the middle toward the right, and the Swordmen on the left, with the Blackfrost in the middle, behind my lines. My opponent place Helga in the middle, with the Battleboar behind her and both of them surrounded by Brigand. There were a War Hog and a Razorback Crew on each flank, with 4 Gobber on the left flank and 2 others Gobber with the Totem Hunter on the right. One unit of Bog Trog was also in the middle, in AD, and the other in ambush. His prey were Kryssa for the Totem Hunter and an Angelius for the Brigands.

My first turn, I ran forward, staying out of the Razorback range, so he couldn't aim. I cast Ashen Veil on the Swordmen and Tactical Supremacy on the Blackfrost. His first turn, he also ran forward, going pass the middle of the board with his Bog Trog, on which he cast Defender Wards. On my second turn, some of Swordmen charged forward, killing a Gobber and a couple of Bog Trog. My Seraph killed another Gobbo and the Totem Hunter, while an Angelius casually killed two Bog Trog. Kryssa arced a Howling Flame through the Spell Martyr. I missed his Warlord but killed 2 Brigands, another Bog Trog and but some damaged on a War Hog. The Blackfrost killed the last Bog Trog with an Ice Bolt. On his second turn, the other Bog Trog unit entered on the right side of the table and ran to engage my Sorceress which was touching the flag. He got some lucky roll to hit on my Swordmen with the left Gobbos and killed two of them. The Brigands moved forward and took a couple of shot into the preyed Angelius, but he stayed fully operational. The Razorback shooted my Neraph. His warbeasts all moved forward. On my turn three, the Blackfrost cast an Ice Cage and the Kiss on the left War Hog, the Seraph put Flare on the right War Hog and killed the Warlord and then Kryssa feated. My Swordmen charged the Brigands to open up the charge lane for my flying Circus, and also killed the left Razorback. First, the Neraph charged the damaged War Hog, which was under the Kiss, and kill him. Second, an Angelius charged his Battle Boar, and under the feat I got a lucky roll of 14 on the Armour Piercing attack and one-shooted the pig. Third, the other Angelius charged his last War Hog and killed him too. On my opponent third turn, without any Warbeasts left alive and only 2 Brigands, he tried to kill Kryssa with Helga, but since Helga was behind his objective, he would have needed to cast both Dash and Cyclone then charged Kryssa with 2 Fury, while I was also camping 2. Plus, he also had to open up the charge lane, because a DEF 16 Swordmen was in the way. He decided to instead give me the game.

Overall, Kryssa did exactly what I was expecting her to do. She hit so hard that my opponent could come back in the game. Her main weakness was also very apparent: she's a very "easy" target after her feat because she needs to be forward and in the middle to make the most of it. I was thinking that maybe a should change the Neraph for a Protector, thus giving her that most needed protection against retaliation after the feat, but losing the Neraph, which is a melee beast (and kind of good with the Kiss, the Feat and the Sorceress), for a support beast, I'm not sure it his worth. Well, time will tell, as I plan to play that list again, since I had great fun with it.

Thanks for reading !
See you next week !

First Mk3 Steamroller

Ho-di-oh folks !
Yesterday, as you might know, I went to a Steamroller. If you want to check out the list I'd take just click here. Without further mumbling from me, here is the story of my latest adventure.

First Round - Entrenched

Trollblood

Jarl, Devil of Thornwood
- Bomber
- Rök
- Mulg
- Axer
- Runebearer
Horgle
- Pyre
- Pyre
Min Stone + Elder
Gobber Chief
Bunker

Since Trolls tend to have a High Armour and his second list had a Glacier King, I went with my pThag list. I won the roll-off and choose my table side for the wall and trench, letting my opponent go first. He moved pretty aggressively with his heavies and Pyres, so I went forward a little but didn't run much, because I didn't want to end up in reach of his heavies. His second turn, he moved forward again, staying just out of reach of my warspears, but still threatening both zones. I realised that I can't keep back for an eternity, and moved forward a bit, to bait him. Toward his zone, I sent the Carnivean with the Warmongers and toward mine the Warspear and Typhon. As expected, he charged with a Pyre in my warspear and Jarl started shooting off my Warmongers and scored a CP for him. On my turn, I killed the Pyre and put Thagrosh into my zone to start scoring also, while the Warmongers contested his zone. On his turn, he sent Mulg after Typhon, but the great dragon shrugg off the attack, since Mulg had lost is Mind to some well placed Typhon breathes the turn before. Jarl killed the last Warmonger with the help of his Bomber. Back to me, I don't have any other choice but to move my Carnivean into his zone to contest, and I'm hoping he can survive the Bomber. Typhon helped by the Blackfrost finish off Mulg. Back to him, he cast Primal on his Bomber and Axer and sadly kill the Carnivean. I didn't think about it before, but he snacked with his Bomber, so the Carnivean was removed from play, and I couldn't feat him back. The second Pyre rush into the few Warspears I have left, and then only my unit leader remain. Currently, it is 3-2 on scenario for him, but his caster his a bit exposed, so I tried to kill him with Typhon, but missed the first spray (even boosted) so Jarl dodged 2" away. For the sake of it, Thagrosh charged and killed the Pyre troll before lobbing an Obliteration into Horgle face, killing him outright. And then lost on Scenario, because he scored on my turn then on his turn. 5-3 CP.

Looking back to the game, I'd hold back too much during the first turn and I should have been more aggressive, especially during my first turn. I was really afraid of Mulg, because with his caster he treatened 13", but thinking back, sending Mulg into my Warspears like that would had meant that either Mulg was out of Control, or his caster was very forward. Overall, my opponent was a great guy and a very good player, and the game was a great game until the end.

0-1

Second Round - The Pit

Trollblood

Borka the Kegslayer
-Keg Carrier
-Mauler
-Mauler
-Earthborn
-Axer
-Pyre
-Storm
Max Long Riders
Horthol

Since I was in the "Loser Bracket", I already knew that the best I could do was getting 3-1, so I didn't care much and choose to send Lylyth3, even if I knew that Borka had Wind Wall, because I figured that I could try to beat him on scenario. I won the first roll and choose to go first. He chooses his table edge but I didn't really mind since the Lylyth list I played have Pathfinder and Eyeless Sight everywhere. First turn I moved forward pretty aggressively and cast Battlehost, which I upkeeped all game. After turn one, all my army was already at the zone or a bit more forward on the flank toward his flag. His moved as fast as he could do keep up, but he also but his cavalry in the front, but not far enough to touch the zone, and but Wind Wall on Borka. On my turn, I feated, froze all his army except Borka & Keg-guy and a Mauler hiding behind his cavalry. I also killed the Storm Troll and a Long Rider. On his turn, he had shaken off all the Stationary he could, but the Long Riders still blocked him, and he was alreay hot on fury. He moved all he could forward, and even his Earthborn ran to engage Lylyth. He didn't cast Wind Wall do, because he cast a couple of Rush to help his beat moving forward. On my turn, there was 4-5 of his beast into the zone, so I knew that my only option was the assassination, and Wind Wall was not up, so yeah for me ! The assassination basically takes me an eternity to achieve, and he succeeded two tough roll thanks to Stumbling Drunk, but he was so far behing his beasts that he couldn't transfer anymore. After all my Striders, Raptors and Angelius had a go at it, at last, a well-placed shot from my Bolt Thrower put him out of his misery.

At the beginning of this game, I was unsure how Lylyth would play into a Beast heavy list with a Wind Walled caster, and I knew that this would have been a pThag's drop usually, but I really wanted to try Lylyth 3. At the end, the Clock was 40 minutes left for him, and 5 for me, so that also mean that I will need to step up my game but for a first game, that's ok.

1-1

Third round - Extraction

Circle of Orboros

Kromac the Ravenous
-Druid Wilder
-Feral Warpwolf
-Ghetorix
-Warpwolf Stalker
-Wild Argus
Sentry Stone & Mannikins
Sentry Stone & Mannikins
Shifting Stones
Warpborn Skinwalkers
-Alpha

My opponent had only one list, so I had the chance to choose mine knowing exactly what I would be facing. So I choose pThag because I felt like he was the good answer. He won the roll and choose to go first, so I set up and the side with a forest touching a flag, so I could score while being in safety. He made a classic opening move, rushing forward with everything, casting Warpath also. I did about the same, my Carnivean was on the right flank, with Typhon and Warmongers in the middle and Warspears and my left flank behind the forest. On his turn, he killed 2 Ogruns with the Mannikins, rolling hot dice and so triggered 2 Warpath move. His Argus slammed one of my Warmongers and used Dopplerbark so I can't run or charge with the Carnivean. He also moved Kromac very close to the right flag and hide him behind a Sentry Stone forest and two Skinwalkers, because he had no Fury left on him (he upkept Warpath, cast Bestial and Wild Aggression). On my turn, since Kromac was empty, my Carnivean walked up around the Argus and targeted a Skinwalker with his spray and a boosted to hit and damage on Kromac, doing 11 damages. Typhon walked up also and sprayed toward a Mannikins and Kromac, boosting roll to hit Kromac, and finished him.

In this game, my opponent made a mistake, moving as forward as he did, he should have camped at least 2. The game would probably have been very different otherwise. It's no great play from me, just an early assassination.

2-1

Third Round - Take and Hold

Legion of Everblight

Bethayne, Voice of Everblight
-Belphagor
-Zuriel
-Nephilim Bloodseer
-Raek
-Stinger
Max Nyss Swordmen
-Abbot and Champion
Max Raptors
Blackfrost Shard
Grotesque Assassin
Fyanna the Lash

His other list was Absy2 with an Archangel and some more Heavies, so I dropped Lylyth3, 'coz why not, let's try her out again. He won the roll, so he chooses to go first and I picked up the side of the board. They were a bit similar, mine had a forest to the right while his side had a forest in the middle. First turn, he ran with everything and hid Bethayne behind the forest, where she will stay for about the whole game. My first turn, I moved Lylyth forward and kill both the Assassin and a Raptor before shuffeling back. The Deathstalkers killed 1 Swordmen and I sent 3 Scouts to jam his raptor in melee. My opponent his still moving forward, but didn't feat. He ran with the Swordmen to engage my Deathstalkers, the Raek leapt and kill to of my jamming scout. 2 raptors charged my Scouts and one the Angelius, while the last one battle against a jamming Scout. Zuriel also charged forward, and breathed, killing another Scouts. On my turn, I'm thinking about using my feat, but nay, better keep it to make it count since I believe I can win the attrition war. With a bunch of Swordmen on my left flank, I decided that the smart move would be to move my army to the right. I first activated my Scouts to do some melee then my Raptors put some damage on Zuriel. My Angelius also charged Zuriel, and I got triple 6 on my Armour Piercing attack, so Zuriel died, and the Angelius crippled the Mind and Body of the Raek. Annyssa walked his raptor and shoot one down, before reforming toward my flag. Lylyth moved right and had some shoot into the Swordmen and Belphagor. On his next turn, my opponent used his feat, but he only managed to kill the Angelius, Annyssa and another Scout, but did engage my Bolt Thrower with a Swordmen. On my next turn, since a lot of my stuff survive, I moving again way to the right, keeping just outside of the killbox. Overall, my Bolt Thrower killed the pesky swordman engaging him and shot at Belphagor but did low damage. I killed the Blackfrost and the Raek and his last Raptor, plus Lylyth shoot 3 times Belphagor, leaving him on 6, with only his Spirit working. On his turn, he had only a few minutes left on his Clock, so he decided to go dominate his Flag and hoped that he could rush his turn to win or that I would Clock myself since I only had 10 minutes left also. That was all I have been waiting for all game. Lylyth  trampled over to of my Scouts and Fyanna to take position, feated and miss her first shot, but hit with the second, forcing a transfer, hit with the last, doing 15 damage (loaded dice right there), forcing a transfer on Belphagor who die and she still lost 9, but gained a Fury to transfer. I moving in with my 4 last Raptors, hit with first one, forcing his last tranfer, then he concided me with 52 seconds on my Clock to do the last 3 Raptors, which I would had the time to do.So even if I won, several things that I didn't though off during the game because I was tire: Apparition on the Seraph, buying one last attack on the Raek with the Angelius, 'coz he was so dead anyway, better positionning my beasts. My opponent did the right thing, though, but if Bethayne hadn't went out for the flag, I would have want through his Swordmen with Lylyth and Belphagor wouldn't have survived one more turn either, so I was winning on Attrition.

3-1

Overall, I finished the day fifth out of sixteen, so not bad ! Even the guy that beat me finished sixth so... that's a personal victory right there !

Thanks for reading guys !

As always, comments are always welcome.

See you next week !

Lists & Meta: First Mk3 Steamroller incoming

Hello back people around the world !

This week, let's talk a bit about the general Meta in Mk3 up to now and what I plan to bring to next week Steamroller.

So, Mk3, eh ? That thing hits the Meta pretty hard. From what I have seen people play and what I play meself, Mk3 seem to favour High Armour Skew and Gunline. But why is that so ? Well I believe it is so for quite simple reasons actually. It's all part of the natural human defense mechanism, and Privateer Press changes. The main change is that every war-something can bring about two Heavies for free, depending of the cost of these, and usually a Heavy have around 18-19 ARM. Also, I believe that Warmachine is the great winner over Hordes. Some will argue that in Mk2, Fury was better because the beasts could do stuffs AND the Warlock could still have full Fury every turn... until beasts die, and you couldn't transfer anymore and you didn't even have Fury point anymore, where a Warcaster always had his full Focus no matter what. Although I will admit that a well managed Fury stack in Mk2 was a bit better than a Focus stack, the change to these systems are disproportionate. They fixed the problem of late game Fury vs Focus with Spirit Bond, but Power Up is just so good that now Focus roll over Fury, specially with Fury management tools being turn down. Players are taking to the table loads of 'jacks while Hordes supporters usually bring about the same number of beasts as before. The absence of beast marshal don't help either. So if there is more 'jacks out there, and that they are usually well armoured, and maybe a bit undercosted for some, you have the heart of the Armour Skew. The Gunline part is easier to see. Lots of models have seen their DEF going down a point (especially the 14-15 DEF fringe), and people being afraid of the change, if you kill it from afar, it can't hurt you. Having that in mind, we can proceed to the lists creation part.

If we can expect Armour Skew and Gunline, we shall have something to counter them. This is way for my next week Steamroller, I plan to go with my regular Thagrosh Brick and a brand new and shiny Lylyth 3 "Can't touch this" list.

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight

-Typhon

-Carnivean

-Protector

Max Warspears

-Chieftain

Max Warmongers

Blackfrost Shard

Warmonger War Chief
Stockpile

This list is tested and trusted. She's herself an Armour Skew, but mainly she hits like a brick and counter others Armour Skew and can deal with some Gunlines (that's actually what I would drops against eCaine, just because Thag can survive eCaine feat's more easily than Lylyth).

The "Can't touch this" is exactly what the name says. A list to control the game, threaten the Assassination and counter Gunline.

Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight
-Angelius
-Seraph
-Nephilim Bolt Thrower
-Naga Nightlurker
Max Raptors
Strider Scouts
-Officer & Musician
Annyssa Ryvaal
Nyss Sorceress on Hellion
Deathstalker
Deathstalker
Shepherd
Bunker

This list can pretty much go against anything that doesn't have a colossal. The strategy is to protect the Sorceress with Lylyth Wind Wall while she herself cast Wind Ravager to have a big bubble of no shooting. The Deathstalkers and Scouts all have Stealth, so except against Sloan, there good to go, and the rest of the army move forward hidden either in Lylyth's bubble or deep into Sorceress' bubble so they can't be shoot at. There also a lot of assassination possibility, either with poisonous arrows from the Raptors, Lylyth herself for the "weaker" 'caster, and even the sling-shooted Angelius: cast Battlehost and freeze all models between Angi and the opponent caster and use Seraph or Lylyth to slipstream him forward if needed. That's an Angelius with 16" threat range, charging for free. Other games options include freezing opponent army to take zones/flags, then on his turn can't do much, then back on your turn use Repulse, Thunderbolt, whatever to push him out of zone, which usually if you dominate central zone and have kill the objectives, should give the victory.

I'm actually quite pumped for the next week Steamroller ! Lots of people from out of town, that I've never play against before. I just received by mail my Nyss Sorceress and she had a Mk1 stats card ! From the look of it, she must have been bonker good, but she also costed 45 pts, so meh... Trying to keep up the painting a bit, but I also need to learn the Morse Code for my job... Oh well, sometimes we must do what we have to do to make more money to buy more minis.

Thanks for reading ! See you next week, with some bat'reps !

Gettin' Ready for the Big Day !

"Ya' know, all these stories start almost the same. It's Friday night, feeling a bit lonely. You decide to go out with the crew (or your "squad" if you're a young-adult with to much swag). While blathering gibberish around a table, you glance at her from the corner of your eyes. She's just sitting there, with some other random hotties, but you don't mine them. You wonder how she is, how it's like to be with her, maybe even to play with her. Your friend next to you told you that you should think twice about this, she's too sophisticated for you, kind of out of your league. But damn them all, the odds favour the bold, you make your move. [...] It's getting late, the venue is closing. You bring her back to your place, smoothly, a bit nervous. You don't really know what's to expect from her, so promising, so mysterious. It's gonna be a short night of sleep for sure. [...] Next morning, you wake up. She's still there, waiting for you, maybe on your nightstand, maybe on your desk. You just bought your first Battlebox."

Feeling uncomfortable and mildly aroused ? Yeah that's normal, after all, that was a sweet love story I just told you there.Once you purchase your first battlebox, you will probably be looking forward for your first game already, unless you want to paint them first, which is ok too. You'll probably buy some supports and a unit or two, and getting THE THING that make your faction sooooo goooood, because L3G1T W1LL, who have 40 000 posts on the forum and always comments his wisdom on every guys' army list threads, told you how awesome it is. Then one day, when you will feel confident enough, and will have enough models, you may try to go to a Steamroller !!! [dramatic music, then pause]

So how to get ready for the bid day ? (Ok, I will gave it to you, that was a veeeery long intro for the main topic, but eh, she was cool.) First stop, quite obviously, know what the rules gonna be. Even when an event is labelled a Steamroller, there is as much variants as there is Press Gansters out there. Will it be one or two list ? Are character models restricted ? Will there be a deathclock ? It's very important that you consider all of that, 'coz you don't want to have to change stuff or try to adapt 10 minutes before the first game of the day.

Second thing, if the Steamroller you attend allow 2 lists, you should bring 2. You can always bring only one, but you will probably get beat-up all day long, since every opponents with 2 lists will choose the best of his list against your. Of course, if you only have enough stuff for one, you don't really have a choice, but don't expect to win the day.

Thirdingly, play what you know rather then an Internet list. I know you can find the list of some top players in the Interweb, but that don't mean you either know or have the skillz to play that list, which might lead you to lose. Nothing can beat your own experience with a list.

Now that you know the three secret tips to manage your way into a Steamroller, I hope you will have a good time !

PS: Also, I believe I just succeeded to post three weeks in a row ! I will try to keep it up and post every weed-end, either Saturday or Sunday (and exceptionally Monday if I had an event on the Sunday).

You should also be able to comment directly on the blog now without the need to register, so feel free to leave comments (for now I don't have to approve comments, they should go up as soon as you write them, because we're all grown up and I don't want to have to watch over you).

Thanks for reading and tune in next for a pre-Steamroller briefing !

Mk3 Full Steam Event debriefing

Hi-di-ho people !

Yesterday was the Mk3 Full Steam event in my city, and as you all know, I had set myself the objective to fully paint my army list, which one week ago add only Thagrosh painted. [Here the pre-event post: click me !!! ]Well after a week of intense painting (something around 10-12h of painting everyday, except last sunday and friday where I only could do about 6 hours because of other obligations), at 0130 EST on the day of the event, I finished my army ! Also, a tip for you all, don't spray varnish in the same room you sleep half'n'hour before going to bed.

Moving forward, after a buzzing night of sleep, I set sail for the Full Steam, confident that a fully painted army should prevail upon weak half painted army. There was 14 players at the event, with a nice mix between Hordes and Warmachines.

My first opponent was playing Minions:

Maelok the Dreadbound
-Blackhide Wrastler
-Blind Walker
-Swamp Horror
Gator Posses
Gator Bokor & Shamblerz
Witch Doctor
Thrullg
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw

Scenario was Close Quarter from the rulebook. I won the dice roll choose the table edge with a wall to cover Thagrosh and a hill close to me flag. Trully the only thing I cared for all day was first, having fun, both in close second place were the super-shiny Marshall Points, which I add already 3 for my painted army and a outstandingly sexy Everblight Necklace of Cunning. My opponent moving forward pretty aggressively, using it's feat on second turn defensively to add +2 ARM to almost all of army. He also placed the Shamblerz as meat shield for his beasts. Sadly for them, Typhon made a happy BBQ of the unit, including the Bokor (my opponent failing all his Tough rolls safe one helped me a bit here). That was 2 juicy Marshall Points in my back-pocket right there. On my third turn, I had a chance for the Assassination, and since it was 1-0 for me on Scenario, and I wasn't sure I could clear flags, I want for hit. Blackfrost cast one Ice Cage with the Kiss, then Typhon engaged the Blind Walker and sprayed through him 3 fiery spray in the face of Maelok, leaving on a few boxes and no Fury. Thagrosh walked up, shouted to Maelok "You fell into a burning ring of fire and it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire !!!" and breathed him to death with a boosted spray.

1-0 for Everblight
8 Marshall Points

Second game was against Everblight:

Absolynia, Terror of Everblight
-Typhon
-Zuriel
-Angelius
-Proteus
-Protector
-Raek
-Forsaken x2
-Shepherd x2

Sceanrio was Throw Down. Once again I won the roll off, and I choose my table edge, since I really wanted to go second to clear zone and score points first. Here again, pretty aggressive opening move from my opponent, while I move forward more consciously. I do leave him the first strike, which the Angelius hurting Typhon, Raek killing a Warmonger and KD another one and his Typhon breathing away a Warspear (which he couldn't 'coz of Draconic Blessing on them, but hey, should had know me spell better). Like a vengeful spirit, the counter attack cripple his army, as I kill in one turn Typhon (only with the Assault attack, not even close combat !), the Angelius and the Raek, plus a Shepherd and a Forsaken. But woh, what's that ? Yep, 2 more points marshalled for me. My opponent tried a charge with Zuriel on Thagrosh, but I was camping 4 so yeah, it failed. He also placed his protector straight between my Protector and Absy, which would be his doom. On my turn, Typhon backstrike Zuriel into Shredder's meal, Thagrosh cast Draconic Blessing on my Carni and Twisted Form on his Protector. My Protector slammed his Protector on Absy, which resulted in both of them being KD. "Carni came in like a wrecking ball, he never hits so hard in love !" One-hit-wonder, at dices plus five, did 17 damages. And even more nice, I only lose 5 Ogruns, 'coz I'm Unstoppable !!!

2-0 Everblight
13 Marshall Points

Third'n'last game against Cryx:

Lich Lord Venethrax
-Cankerworm
-Deathjack
-Deathripper
-Deathripper
-Leviathan
-Nightmare
-Scavenger
-Stalker
-Stalker

Before hand, I would like to talk about a funny fact. At that point, we were three guys undefeated, my opponent, my arch-nemesis Joce and myself, and the three of us had all went to bed pass 0200 and had pretty little sleep. By this empiric demonstration, I can safely assume that the less you sleep, the best you perform.

Scenario was Hold the Doo.. oups no sorry Hold the Line. My opponent won the dice roll but choose to go first, I learned afterward that he was going for the win in 25 minutes by casterkill. I pick the table edge with a wall for Thagrosh and a Forest. That game was a bloodbath. At the end, he was down to Nightmare, a Stalker, a Deathripper and the Scavenger, while I still had the Carnivean, my Protector, my Warspear Chieftan, the Warchief, the Blackfrost and 3 Warmongers. The thing is, Venethrax charged nearly killed Typhon, but he camped 2 Focus and forgot to Feat. Typhon was then killed by a charging Scavenger. On my turn, I fully leached the Carni, who was on 4 Fury and blocking his only counter-charging model with my Protector. The Blackfrost landed one Ice Cage and the Kiss on Venethrax. Thagrosh killed Cankerworm and say "Where not going to take it anymore !". Carni walked to Venethrax and killed him in 3 bites, the last one boosted.

3-0 Everblight
14 Marshall Points

I would like to thanks my local PressGanster Pascal Coulombe for the event.

Here a photo of the happy army.

Full Steam and Painting

Hi everyone ! If there is still anyone on this blog...

HeLLOoooo !!! [oooh] [ooh] [oh] [h]

Damn that echo is deep... So, first of all, about that ND Open thingy, my main computer somehow crash for another unknown reason (he does that like once or twice a year, but this time it's look more serious since hitting the case ain't solving 'thing), and the draft was on it so... as soon as I get my hand on the hard-drive, I will post it.

Since Mk3, I have been quite busy actually. Between camping trip, drinking nights and job related stuffs, I managed to get 4 games ! To my good surprise, I'm also undefeated in Mk3 so far, and I intend to keep it that way by any mean possible, including quiting the game.

Just kidding people, stay calm, I hope you didn't flip your table too hard for that one. Right now I'm playing a Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight list with Typhon and some Ogruns.

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight
- Typhon
- Carnivean
- Protector
Max Warspears
- UA
Max Warmongers
Blackfrost Shard
Warchief

That's also the list that I want to play for my Local Full Steam event next Sunday ! And since I got my eyes on the Marshall Award, I need to be able to get the most Marshall points possible ! Which mean that I'm currently trying to paint 11 ogruns and 3 beasts in a week to get those juicy Marshall points. It's in moment like these that I almost regret to decide to do Non-Metalic-Metal for my Legion, since it's very time consuming to do the 7 steps only for the gold/brass part. But so for I doing great, and I guess that if I keep up the good work (aka, in-line-painting), I hope I will succeed.

I'll keep you updated on that Full Steam event and the painting.

Durgil

Mk3 Leaked Legion Deck Review - Part One

Yesterday, someone made a hole in the MK3 piping and there have been quite a big leak. Having now half of the full picture, since I still miss the core rules, I feel confident enough to put out a preliminary review of the Legion of Everblight. In the meantime, there will be some spoilers, but there is no link toward the leak in this post, all information gathered here are still considered rumours until the final release of the official cards, and the analysis is solely based upon my understanding, my personal opinion and my gaming experience. Also, there will probably be more than one post about this, ‘cause there is a lot so talk about.

Let start by the more important models of the faction, the Warlocks:

Absylonia, Terror of Everblight, aka Abby1

• -       Statswise, some minors change: -1DEF, +1ARM, -1SPD, -2RAT (but that one is irrelevant). The important part I feel is the back of the card. She keeps Resourceful and now gives Ashen Veil to all the Forsaken plus she has straight out Grievous Wounds, no more critical. Sadly, she loses Reach for Ashen Veil, and the Flight mutation’s also gives here +1SPD. Feat stays the same (except she doesn’t need to cut) and for her spells, loses Carnivore for Hyper-Aggressive and traded Playing God for something kind of similar.
• -       Miss Abby was not very much played before, meanly because of the awesomeness of some others casters. Now, even if the loss of Reach is sad, I believe she will see more play. Hyper-Aggressive will let her run large battlegroup, and that’s what she wants. She still does nothing for units, but now that Forsaken are DEF15 with her, she will probably become the new Beast Heavy caster. Also, having Ashen Veil and the DEF bonus will help her survivability a lot. Don’t know if she going to be the new superstar, be she sure picks up good stuff.

Absylonia, Daughter of Everblight, aka Abby2

• -       Statswise, she is same same, but different, but still same. (Sorry, I had to plug that line from The Interview). She trades Teleport for Reposition 5”, keeps all her other spells and gains Hex Bolt. Feat is the same same, but different, but still same!
• -       Abby2 was play before, and she will still be play. She does loose some treat, because now she can only back up to 5” instead of 8, and she can be freestriked while doing so. Hex Bolt is also kind of ok, I guess. There is nothing spectacular about that spell, and it has a very short range. We will have to see, but I have the feeling that she will play mostly the same, just maybe a bit less aggressively.

Bethyane, Voice of Everblight & Belphagor, Sleeping Bag of Everblight

• -       Statswise, she picks up +1ARM, and still has a Berlin Wall’s of text so that basically, she can go hide inside Belphagor while Belphy becomes the warlock rulewise. She also has 20 Beast points, so I believe she kind of has more of it even with the change to point cost. She loses Gallows, Eruption and Carni for Disintegration (-2ARM), Venom (Corrosive Spray) and Invocation of Blood (help her go hide, or let Belphy think he is a heavy if she’s hiding). New feat that everyone knows about, since PP gives it in the Insider.
• -       Oh my gawd, where to start. Before she only wanted magical stuff for her feat, which limited was you would take with her. Now, she would love to have a couple of infantries, with several light beasts. Maybe a heavy, but no more, because the feat need several beasts to cover the board. You might even want to play Lessers with her, because their small bases will let you put more models against stuff like heavy. Also, her new spells list is very nice, especially for Disintegration. That means she can really run some lights around, and even tackle a Colossal. She will gets a lot more of play.
• -       Belphagor on its own is a light tank. He hits squishily at range, and can do some works against lights and infantries. Despite losing -1DEF and -1ARM, he’s still a “free” channeler that Bethayne can use to cast Disintegration or Venom.

Lylyth, Herald of Everlight, aka Lylyth1

• -       Statswise, she is unchanged. She loses Bushwhack for Prowl, and now instead of having Witchmark and Blood Lure on each arrow, she must choose between the two, or the new shiny Inflict Pain. She trades Bad Blood for Pursuit, and Eruption is less violent. Feat stays the same.
• -       Eeergh… What was wrong with her that she needed to be tune down?? Having to choose between Blood Lure and Witch mark is sad. First, that mean you need to hit a model twice to have both effect, which against Warcaster level model’s she will need to boost (so I guess she will only need to boost once, since after both boosted shots she won’t have enough fury left for Parasite [ok, she will be at 0 Fury, so unless it is a 100% assassination run, you won’t do it]). Sure if you input Far Strike, she gains range, but she’s already low on Fury, and Parasite+Far Strike leave her on 1 Fury, before any boosting. Maybe on her feat turn she can do some work, since her attack will be boosted. Also, Inflict Pain… what a crappy ability for her. She’s not a random solo that can lose his activation trying something, she’s a warlock, so why not something that also affect Focus? The only useful thing you could do with it is max out an enemy beast to stop from transferring, if the transfer mechanism stays the same. ‘ part from that, the warlock will only cut 1 or take a Threshold test at 1Fury. So, if you haven’t already realised, Lylyth1 was not very play, and that probably won’t change.

Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight, aka Lylyth2

• -       Statswise, Cool Lylyth gains Stealth (take that, prowling Lylyth1), and keeps all of her sweet killing abilities. She loses Shadow Pack and Pursuit for Mirage and Soothing Song. Her feat now gives Gunfighter instead of Snipe, and everyone get a second attack.
• -       I believe PP messed up who was who between Lylyth1 and Lylyth2. She was already hated for her feat, and while the Snipe part is gone, which was somehow expected (well not necessarily that part, but Lylyth2 was expecting change in general), she seems as powerful if not more. Soothing Song will still let here run heavy on Beast and Mirage couple very nicely with the new Back Strike bonus will wreak havoc. The Feat affecting all models is just awesome. Deathstalker with extra attack? Raptors with extra poisonous attack?? Man, that’s just mean against infantry armies and Hordes in general. He believes she will stays one of our powerhouse.

Lylyth, Reckoning of Everblight, aka Lylyth3

• -       Statswise, she gets +1DEF, and also the Battle Engine abilities seem to be on the card now. She loses the Blade but can make charge attack with the mount. Spells list is the same, as is the Feat.
• -       Frankly, I guess the DEF bonus is nice. My main idea is that with Far Strike being an animus and ROF 3, she will hit from further away and overall gained from the change to the rest of the Faction. Maybe more play, but not sure. That will depend of how the other warlocks fare and how Battle Engine works now.

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everglight, aka pThag

• -       Statswise, he is mostly the same, with some noticeable exception, he gains Tough, his Athanc gives him full Fury, not just 1, he can’t Feat back a huge base and Bad Blood become Twisted Form, which is different, but ultimately looks better.
• -       Everblight sure loves his Prophet, since even if he didn’t really need any change, he gets goodies!! Sure, not much, but still. The Athanc part is really nice and will come handy, plus he can play beast heavy and forward, transferring like a no brainer and still having full fury (probably not the best tactic, but still). That also means that even if Thag is left alone, he’s still a brute and can kill you. Bonus, you don’t need to feel bad if you don’t bring that stupid Blightbringer, he can’t feat it back anyway. Thag was a mid-tier caster before, but I feel that with the tuning down of some big names and he’s slight upgrade, he will see table here and there.

Thagrosh, Messiah of Everblight, aka eThag

• -       Statswise, eThag is better: gains Tough, loses cold on the breath (but keeps critical freeze), the new Athanc rule of pThag, Blood Spawn on any damages. The rest is the same.
• -       I expect eThag to be, with Abby1, the other beast heavy warlock, principally because of the number of warbeast points he can bring (even if everyone went up, it’s still feel like it is a lot for what he can do by himself). Plus, he still only like to play with beasts, even if Dragon’s Blood can affect unit. Will he see more games? I believe so, just because that still want to run a lot of beasts will probably take him.

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight, aka pVayl

• -       Statswise, Miss Winter Mk2 gains +1ARM, which she needed with Tenacity running away. Talion is more user friendly, since she can now transfer up to 5 damages, so if you take 7, you pass 5 and keep 2. Her spells list doesn’t change much, except that Rampager is gone, with nothing to take its place, and Incite is now 4 Fury but affects every model, so meh, guess it is ok. The big change appears on her Feat. She can’t move now, but all your army in 16” around her can. That’s so movement shenanigan right there.
• -       Truly, pVayl was an awesome (and some creepy guys might even say handsome) warlock, which needed to be tamed. I feel she’s down a notch, but still very good. Incite is kind of a double edged blade. 9” is not that big for a bubble, and even if it gives the bonus to warrior models, there aren’t so much of them that are going to be able to get in the bubble, since you also need the enemy into that bubble. But hey, since she loses Rampager, it’s not like she has any other nice spells to cast now. Although there is one crazy thing she can do, since Far Strike exist… She can make any model at 6+12=18” of her an arc node and throw boosted Hoarfrost the ruin the day of a lot of people. I think she will be less played, but that’s because some other caster get better, and she feels like she’s more at a “Good” level rather than a “BOOM!! DIE MOTHAF**KA!!” level.

Vayl, Consul of Everblight, aka eVayl

• -       Statswise, she’s the same, but gets Reload 2 instead of ROF 3. Her feat is the same too, but her spells list has some change. Chasten instead of Purification, Deadly Storm instead of Obliteration (POW 13 Cloud Effect) and Boundless Charge instead of Refuge.
• -       Ouch, she has taken the nerf bat full in her face. Didn’t anybody tell PP that you can’t beat up a lady? First off, she will play very differently than before. Her Feat is less powerful since she loses her most potent spells, and Deadly Storm is nothing near Obliteration, because once you land one, you give Concealment to your target. Just how silly is that? She won’t be assassinating anything soon with that spell. At least, between Fury 8 and other stuff in Legion, she will probably have no problem to use Chasten, even if it is not as good as Purification. The problem with her now is that… She loses all of her tricks, and doesn’t get any new ones. Her spells list seem like a bunch of random stuffs throw together, and even if she can do something for units and beasts here and there, it’s just feel weird. She doesn’t support beasts that much, neither does she support infantry. Before, she had games on her own, but not anymore. Time will tell, but I foresee the shelf in a near future.

Rhyas, Sigil of Everblight

• -       Statswise, she gains +1STR and finally overcome her old nemesis: walls no longer stop her. The rest is unchanged.
• -       Rhyas does get better, but was it enough? Pathfinder was a given, and +1STR is cute, but I believe straight Decapitation would have been better, and would have let her see the table some more. With absolutely 0 changes, the downgrade of the Ogruns and the loss of Rearguard, I don’t know if she will really be more played. It feels like PP missed a nice opportunity to put her on the same level as the other Warlocks in the faction. I’m a bit disappointed with her; I was expecting the “Wow factor”, but nope.

Saeryn, Omen of Everblight

• -       Statswise, Saeryn is unchanged. Her only spell that changed his Blight Bringer, and it is straight up better, since from looking at it, you don’t need to place it on a warbeast. Don’t know if you just place the AOE inside the 10” range or if it is an Offensive spell that PP forgets to mark, but both ways are good. Her Feat now gives +3ARM to everyone and the battlegroup gets Retaliatory Strike. Different, but nice.
• -       Saeryn might see more play, but I’m not sure. Her feat is kind of the permanent pThag debuff bubble, plus Retaliatory Strike. Her spells list is ok, nothing extravagant. She has become an all-around caster. She might have her days, but I doubt that she will rock tournaments.

Saeryn & Rhyas, Talons of Everblight, aka The Twins

• -       Statswise, they are the same that there regular version, except this Rhyas doesn’t have Pathfinder (maybe Mk4?). They do have lost their Bond of Blood. All their spells are the same, but Marked for Death no longer allow ignoring LOS. The Feat also state that if they hurt each other’s, they can’t feat.
• -       Another weird move from PP here. The Twins weren’t play a lot, maybe because of other better choices. At least, Saeryn feels more powerful than her Omen form. The new beast points allowance will also help with the Fury, and they probably can run a huge battlegroup like no brainer, but they do nothing for the beasts.

Kallus, Wrath of Everblight

• -       No change at all. Like not even a little thing.
• -       He was already a good caster, but not a lot of people play him because of his Feat, that require a least a dozen of incubi. That will probably be the same thing. Except that PP made the marketing move to not raise the PC of Incubi, hoping people will buy them, and then play Kallus. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. I hope it does, because with the changes made to Ogruns, there is not much reason to play Kallus anymore (and I’m not even speaking about Legionnaires: what a joke they are…).

Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight

• -       Statswise, well she not there before, so yep, that’s about it…
• -       She should have been named Convection of Everblight, because she lit everything on fire. Her spells list is great for a combine arms list, and that’s also what she wants! Between Tactical Supremacy for movement shenanigan and Ashen Veil to help delivers units, she is a very good support warlock. Howling Flames is a bit so-so because of her Fury and Quickness is situational, and she won’t do a lot of work by herself since she need to Crit for the Sustained Attack, but her Feat is just amazing. +3STR in Legion is very powerful, and only for this Feat, she will see the table (and also because she is the battlebox caster, that will help, too).

 Overall, the Legion Warlocks all seem more on the same level, put there is still some betters than others. If I had to do a Top 5, it will be pThag, Bethayne, Kryssa, Lylyth2 and pVayl, in no specific order. And my Top of the worst will be eVayl, Lylyth1 and that's it. The rest are all good casters, and not very far from some in my personal Top 5.

So yeah, that’s about it for now. In the next days, I will cover the full faction, but I think that all the casters is a good start. Of course, I didn’t go very deep with each of them: that would take a lot more time. But I will! As I will play them, I will try to do posts about what works with them and what doesn’t. Hope you enjoy this short review. For these still expecting my after-tournament report on the ND Open, it is underway, but with the finals, I didn’t have much time to write.