Monday, January 18, 2016

Battle Report: Absylonia2 vs Axis (again)

My list: Absylonia2, Blightbringer, Carnivean, Seraph, Stinger, Shredder, Warspears (5+UA), 2x Shepherds.

My opponent: Axis (tier 4), Corollary, 2x Inverter, 4x Enigma Foundry, 2x Obstructors, Reductors, 3x Clockwork Angels, Optifex Directive.

This was sort of a refined rematch from the previous game. We played the SR2015 Outflank scenario again, and our lists were basically refinements from the previous game. I should also note that we played to deathclock during this match. Fortunately I won initiative again and opted to go first. I surged forward and tried to be in a good position to push harder into each zone. Axis' force then surged forward. Next I opted to use the Carnivean to get a deep strike and got a lucky assault spray damage on a Foundry and took it out, then used Slipstream to pull it back. On the other side I pushed forward with Warspears covered by the Blightbringer's aura for bonus ARM. There was a fair amount of killing of Axis' troops, but against this list it's just a matter of trying to overload the Foundries' ability to put them back on. The follow up was not so bad, with a key Warspear getting taken out and allowing Axis to score a scenario point. This turned out to be a key point later on, but more on that later. I then pushed forward further, nearly taking out a second Foundry with the Carnivean, taking out more Angels, and more troops. Unfortunately in the next round an Inverter (aided by Axis' feat) managed to take out the Carnivean. After lamenting my choice to not Slipstream it back again I realized that the right zone was starting to collapse on me, and while my Warspears were doing an admirable job of holding the other zone, they wouldn't last forever. I was also down to a little less than 8 minutes on my clock, and Axis' feat had hit most of my force. At this point I played pretty fast, pushing further into the left zone with my Warspears and Blightbringer to make sure I couldn't lose on that side, and then blocked off the Inverter with a Warspear and my Succubus on the other flank. I also put Abby into a somewhat dangerous position, especially given that my Shredder had been taken out by Angels in the previous round, robbing me of my precious Tenacity animus. So what was I to do at this point? I charged into the center with Abby, then teleported to the Blightbringer's cloud for the ARM bonus. I hit the clock and had just barely 2 minutes left. The reason I had to go down this path was not just deathclock, but also because I was down on scenario points. Although Abby was sitting on 4 fury, it wasn't enough and after a Corollary headbutt to knock Abby down, Axis finished her off with a series of nasty rolls.

Lessons learned: Well, I didn't lose due to countercharge! Also, Abby is badass, and the Seraph is just a must I think. In hindsight, I also need to make sure I'm remembering the Blightbringer's aura since I believe I spaced and forgot the bonus to Abby's ARM during the pummeling from Axis. Oh well!

Games this year: 3

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