Impending Vacation

Last week I got my final game in with the cephalyx against a friends Epic Irusk list. It was a brutal slog through the mud, my first timed game with them, and a hell of a good time. He does an extremely good job over on his site of recaping the game, so I won’t do so here. Go over there, read it and come back.

Good!

As you know by now, that game didn’t go so well for me, and I think there are a number of factors why, and I think I had control over almost all of them. The Irusk list is good, but I think I could have put up a much better fight had I don several things better. As Keith Christiansen said, If you look at a game and say there is nothing you could have done better, you’re becoming worse at the game. To that extent, here are the issues I had that I could easily have improved

• Know your Scenario. This is a key part of every game, and can really cramp your style if you’re not careful. I was under the impression I could toss a few models into the scenario zone to keep him honest, but it just didn’t work out that way
• Be aware of your clock. Going into the tank on turn 2 and turn 3 burned a ton of my time, and its just not something I am used to. With both Cryx and Skorne I am so used to the armies, models, and capabilities that I don’t have to think long. Even after 12+ games with Thexus, that army is still a Rubics Cube. There are a ton of different ways to apply force in that army, and make just a few mistakes, and you can end up hurt.
• Realize that the terrain is going to be a factor in the game, and plan for it. I should have committed all my Incorporeal models, my overlords and Thexus to that zone to take and hold it forever.
• Know your opponents feat. In His write-up, the Irusk player feels kinda bad for surprising me with the feat, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. I’d looked at him on warroom during the game, I’d read his primer article that he wrote on his blog, and I’d read his battle report against Damiano. I should have been prepared, and its my fault I wasn’t

Now, in addition to general errors, there were also play mistakes that could have been done differently, and I think they would have at least leveled the playing field. As I said, the first was model commitment. I should have gone harder for the zone and tried to lock him out. As the Irusk player mentioned in his write up, this is a scenario that really benefits from playing it a time or two first. Second, and one of the most egregious errors I made, was that I clouded up on turn 2. Not only was the tactic nullified by the feat, it wasn’t even strictly necessary. The only shooting I wasn’t going to nullify that turn was the conquest, and as it has been shown, I can survive a conquest laying shells into me. It also jammed up my advance, and made a number of models vulnerable that I otherwise could have kept safe. Finally, I could not have been so stupid with my Wreckers. Both instances, I could have kept them far enough away so that they weren’t killed, and I could have made a greater impact with them. I especially needed the one who was beat to death by Conquest to be alive and put some damage into the giant bastard and give me a fighting change to win. Instead I got greedy and didn’t pay attention to my placement and got smashed. I try not to make the same mistakes in successive games, but making it in the same game is a path to getting crushed.

All in all, it was a fantastic game that I really enjoyed. Playing deathclock on my new chessclock was enjoyable, though we did futz around with it a bit due to some communication issues. It also reminded me of the pressure that the clock can grant. Good pressure, but pressure none the less. This will very likely be the last Battle Report I give with Thexus. I’ll be playing whatever pickup games I can while running the NOVA next weekend, but other than that, I think I’ve gotten a good run in with him. I bought, played and painted the entire (here is hoping) army before they were even available to purchase. Some days, its cool to be a nerd.

On that same vein, we finally got to see Thexus’ complete Theme list, and its pretty freaking crazy.

Restrictions: Non-Character Mercenary Monstrosities, Mercenary Cephalyx Units, Mercenary Cepahlyx Solos
Tier 1 – Cephalyx Overlords become FA:U. Also, the unit can include one Dominator and its unit.
Tier 2 – One or more Mind Slave Drudge Units – Mind Slaver and Drudge Units gain Ambush
Tier 3 – Army Includes 4+ units – Free Agitator above and beyond FA
Tier 4 – Army Includes 2+ Overlords – FA of Dominators +1, and you can include a second unit with that Dominator.

Honestly, There is a ton going on here, and it creates almost two different armies. You loose access to the Pistol Wraith and the Machine Wraith, and technically the Bloat thrall. That puts a huge element of control out of your hands. You also gain FA:U on the Overlords, which is pretty neat.
The first use of the Tier would be to make a pretty bog-standard list, and get a free agitator, saving 2 points. I have seen multiple lists that are something along this vein, and they would just be getting a free agitator and the ability to ambush, both which can’t be overstated.

[table id=54 /]

The other, much more amusing list, is the Overlord Spam. You can easily make something like this.

[table id=55 /]

This may not be effective, but I’m pretty sure that it would catch a ton of people off guard. with 31 MA 7 sprays, three Wreckers and Deceleration, I’m pretty sure that it has a solution to all the problems. Guns are solved with Defense 16/ Arm 15 models with 5 wounds. Melee armies are solved with so many sprays that they can never escape, and Tanky armies are solved with Wreckers. I just love the idea of this list so much. I really wish I knew if they were going to resculpt the Overlords, because I would wait and get this army. Right now it won’t be on the chopping block because the models are so small and out of scale I just don’t want to go about painting them. It might be a fun proxy army, soon. we will see.

Now, with that said, I am going to start concentrating completly on getting ready for NOVA. I’ve got a ton of projects yet to finish up before its ready, and I can’t let everyone down. With that in mind, this’ll be my last standard post until September 4. I will likely get a Bite Size Nerd in on Wednesday, but there is only a slim chance I’ll get a September 2 post in. I will be doing this coming Monday Mythology, but not one on September 1.

I’ll be tweeting tons of games, Pictures, and results from my phone during the convention, so follow me if you’re interested in it!

until then.