First, here's a quick Who's The Boss Resource for random caster selection.
So my LGS had a 35pt Who's The Boss tournament on Saturday which was a total blast. We had 7 people participate and we ended up playing 4 rounds just by virtue of interest in playing the format. Lists were built using 40pts (with 5 minimum put into jacks/beasts) and each round we picked a random caster (literally) from a box of caster cards. The breakdown of factions was: 2 Circle, 1 Legion, 1 Menoth, 1 Convergence, 1 Cryx, 1 Skorne. Overall the event was a blast. Below is the breakdown along with my own list.
My list: Scythean, Ravagore, Soldier, Shredder, Succubus, Raptors (5), Shepherd, Spell Martyr. My theory was to have a relatively balanced list that could take advantage of a variety of spells from whatever caster I drew.
Round 1: Scenario was Destruction. I drew Siege. I was playing against pCaine paired with a Convergence list: Corollary, Mitigator, Conservator, Attunement Servitors, Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex, 2 Enigma Foundries, Accretion Servitors, Optifex Directive, Reductors (10+Enumerator), Obstructors (10).
This game was pretty brutal for Caine. Early on I managed to drop a Ravagore hit on him and set him on fire. Then after more pummeling, I drop a second hit on him and dusted him. Siege really made a mess of convergence paired with the Scythean and Ravagore.
Round 2: Scenario was Incursion. I drew Thyra. I was playing against Ashlynn paired with a Circle list: Ghetorix, Gorax, Pureblood, Wilder, Blackclad Wayfarer, Shifting Stones, Bloodtrackers (10+Nuala).
This game looked bad. I was losing on both scenario (3 flags) and attrition. Fortunately I managed to get Stranglehold on Ghetorix and my opponent was pretty focused on trying to shove beasts into Thyra's face. So after patiently waiting for the right opportunity and feeding him targets, I managed to get the range and opportunity I needed and took an assassination run on Ashlynn with Thyra. A few quick hits and that was all she wrote. My opponent was rather sore because it turned out his Shifting Stones couldn't control the flag and that made all the difference between winning and losing in the end. In all fairness, it would have meant me running something extra over just to contest temporarily to prevent it but at least we all know the rule for the future.
Round 3: Scenario was Destruction. I drew pMagnus. I was playing against Calaban paired with a Circle list: Stalker, Megalith, Gorax, 2 Gallows Groves, Bloodtrackers (10+Nuala), Shifting Stones + Stone Keeper.
I was hoping for this to be a slam dunk but it turned into anything but that. I laughed. I cried. I slowly watched my models disappear as Calaban hid in a trench where I just couldn't ever get a line of attack on him. He stayed camping 2 to 3 fury the entire game which made it impossible to get an assassination run on him. Eventually he ground me down and a desperate final run failed. It's a real shame I didn't get a picture of this game as it was Joren's masterfully painted Circle army against my painted Legion and the whole thing looked great on the table. Hats off to Joren for being a fun and skilled opponent.
Round 4: Scenario was Fire Support. I drew Sturm & Drang. I was playing against pReznik paired with a Skorne list: Gladiator, Shaman, Krea, Marketh, Tyrant Commander & Standard, Paingiver Beast Handlers (4), Nihilators (10), Slingers (10), Swamp Gobbers.
I expected to lose this game right from the start. And I did end up losing it, but not the way I expected. Early on I managed to take out his Gladiator. From there things were going ok in that I was picking where the critical fights were taking place. However when making an assassination run on Reznik with my Scythean, a Paingiver totally cranked a free strike damage roll and took out the Scythean's mind. At that point I just didn't have quite enough juice in the tank. I would like to point out that I managed to use Sturm's feat to drop the Fury of all his beasts to 1 which left them in a maxed out state, preventing transfers. This was the crux of my assassination run and if it wasn't for that free strike, I would have easily had him dead to rights. After that Sturm was hanging out with no fury on him.
Lessons learned: This format is awesome. Like really fun. I'd totally play this again, even in a casual format. It's also amazing to watch and see which players can actually make something out of what appears to be nothing. I think this type of improvisation is actually an important skill in Warmachine.
Games this year: 19
No comments:
Post a Comment