AAR (After Action Report), Trolls Vs. Protectorate

Welcome, all, to the very first battle report!  The Fukuyama gaming club, located in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a small club, but full of great people and enjoyable games, both table top war games like Warma/Hordes and 40K, and boardgames, most recently Arkham Horror, Star Trek Attack Wing, and Zombicide.  Our gaming club usually meets once a month, though we occasionally take trips to one of the other clubs that we have ties to.  Currently we are gearing up for a Warmachine/ Hordes Team Tournament coming in October.  This will be the first time Fukuyama has hosted a team tourney, and we're really excited about it!  We're pretty hopeful that in the next few years we may even be able to convince Privateer Press to make it a qualifier for the World Team Tournament!  But of course, that's a ways away.  For now, practice, practice, practice!

This month featured a throw down between a force of Trollkin lead by Grissel 2 and my Protectorate army, with Hierarch Severius in command.  Both lists ran at 75 points.  The new steamroller kit isn't out yet, so we ran our scenario from the 2016 set.  A roll of the dice came up with the "Incursion" scenario, three flags across the middle of the table.  Control a flag for one control point, dominate it for two, and first to five points wins.

The forces for today's battle!
Army list:  Trollkin, controlled by Dan Troll Blitzer (DTB).  This is DTB's "knock 'em down and shoot 'em up" list.  As he says, "you don't have to worry about defense scores if they're knocked down.
      Warcaster: Grissel 2
                        Bomber X 2
                        Mauler
                        Trollsus
                        Digmys
                        Gremlin Swarm
                        Dhunia's Knot
                        Thumper Crew
                        War Wagon
                       
 Army list:  Protectorate of Menoth, controlled by yours truly, Kommissar Koala.  I'm working on this as my anti-Warmachine list, though I feel it may do well against several Hordes factions.  A lot of heavy warjacks are hard to deal with for most armies, so this has as many as I could fit in, which happens to fit right in with the "Creator's Might" theme force.
     Warcaster: Hierarch Severius
                       Judicator
                       Guardian
                       Indictor
                       Castigator (I forgot that model, so in this report it's being proxied by Blood of Martyrs)
                       Crusader
                       Blessing of Vengence
                       Choir (minimum unit)
                       Vassal of Menoth X 2
                       Covenant of Menoth
                       Wrack X 3

A roll of the dice, and PoM takes the first turn while Trollkin choose the board edge.

Setup: Protectorate of Menoth
                                                                 

     Trolls...they're hard to win on attrition, and I already know that DTB likes to win on scenario, so I wanted to set up where I didn't leave any of the flags uncovered.  That forest directly in my way was going to be a big problem to my already speed challenged forces, so, there was really only one choice... put the colossal in the middle.  Judy can tromp through there without any trouble.  I wanted Blessing of Vengeance as far towards the left flag as I could get it, since with the arc node it can put pressure on the trolls.  The Guardian and the Crusader went on the right side of Judy to head towards the flag on that side, and the Indictor and Castigator stayed to the left of Judy, ready to go where they were needed as well as give a little moral support to Severius, who snuggied up between the Indictor and Judy.  The vassals placed behind, ready to empower the 'jacks, and the choir filled in where they could, trying to get out of the way but still be ready to give out prayers.  Finally, the Covenant of Menoth slid in on the right of the Blessing of Vengence. Since this list falls into the "Creator's Might" theme list, models can start the game with Severius' upkeep spells already in play, so went ahead and put Arcane Ward on the Blessing of Vengence since he'd be off on his own and needs all the defense he can get, and Creator's Wrath on Severius, since, hey, why not, right?

Setup: Trollkin
                                                 

     Bomber A, the Mauler, Grissel, Trollsus, Bomber B, and the Gremlin Swarm lined up towards their left flank ready to split between either flag depending on where I went.  On the right side, the Gun Carriage, Dhunian Knot and Thumper Crew prepared to hold the flag there.

Advanced Deployment:  PoM
     Three Wracks, ready with focus went one of each side of the barn, and one farther towards the right edge in case Sevy needed to head that way.

Advanced Deployment:  Trollkin
     The Digmy's got sent out in front to take the brunt of Menoth's righteous flames.

Our Story:  Leading a small contingent of the Northern Crusade, the Heirarch came upon a force of Trollkin guarding three kriel stones.  In an attempt to "remove" the Dhunian worshipers from the lands rightfully belonging to the Creator of Man, Severius raced to secure the stones that the Trollkin would die to protect.

                                                   

Round One:  Protectorate of Menoth
     With Sevy's upkeep spells already placed on Blessing of Vengeance and on Severius himself, there was really only one thing to do... As a friend of mine once told me, "You must to run!"  Menoth is slow... and I don't mean, turtle time, I mean glacially slow.  If I have any chance of winning on scenario, you have to get your guys into the middle of the board, so, that's where they went.  They all got a focus from the Power Up rule, and Severius gave them each one more since he has a special rule that allows his battle group to use a focus once a turn to ignore one damage roll.  They all used one focus to run and kept one for Orracular Vision, just in case.  Usually the forest directly in my way would be a problem, but with the Judicator in the middle of my line,it just ran straight into it.  The choir came up behind them and gave the Castigator, Indictor, Judicator and Guardian protection from ranged attacks, since I didn't like the way those Bombers were leering at us!  The Vassals followed along so they could be in place next turn to hand out extra focus.  Behind them all, Sevy ran forward to get in position behind the forest for some protection.  Finally, the Covenant moved forward and used the Power of Faith to keep the surrounding models safe from being knocked down by DTB's Bombers.

Round One:  Trollkin
     First things first, Trollsus moved forward, and turning a bit to face his warcaster, cast Harmonious Exultation on Grissel so she could cast a spell for one less focus.  Grissel cast Discord on Bomber A, and then charged the Guardian, who of course was almost two feet out of charge range.  (Since she can't cast and run, this is a great way to get a few extra inches of movement.)  Fail, of course, so her activation ended, but she had already done what she needed to do.  Bomber's A and B ran to the hill.  The Digmys ran forward and dug in, taunting Judy to shoot at them and lifting their kilts at Severius.  The Thumper crew heaved and ho'd their giant gun forward at a slow trot, while the Dhunian knot moved towards the flag and cast Puppet Master on the War Wagon.  The Wagon moved forward and took a shot at the Castigator.  Being out of range, it caused and auto miss (SAD!!!) and scattered onto one choir member and the Covenant.  While the Covenant of Menoth disdainfully stepped out of the way of the blast with a prayer on his lips, the poor Choir boy was obliterated...poor poor boy...
                                                

Round Two:  Protectorate
     So far, so good, I guess!  The loss of one Choir member wouldn't disrupt my plans too badly.  Sadly, because the Protectorate is SO SLOW, round two is often also a matter of getting into position before being able to being the hurt on round three.  The Blessing of Vengeance ran forward to get into contesting range of the left side flag.  The other heavy jacks continued to run forward while holding onto one focus each to use for Oracular Vision.  Severius sucked a focus off of one of the wracks, walked into base to base behind the Indictor, and then using the Blessing of Vengence's divinity node, he cast Ashes to Ashes into the Thumper Crew (Sevy gets one free spelleach turn since he's Menoth's right hand man), managing to mash all three of them into paste.  He then feated, exploding another Digmy and Trollsus (Yes!!!!! No more Harmonious Exaltation!) and leaving behind two clouds.  To finish out his turn of pure destruction, Sevy used the Guardian's divinity node to shoot a Hex Blast off at the Digmy's, blowing up several of them, but much more importantly, killing off the Gremlin Swarm before it could do any damage to my jacks.  Judicator stepped into the forest and shot it's rocket pods into the waiting Digmy's.  With inaccurate, the Judicator's RAT becomes essentially a 1, which means that it will pretty much always miss, especially since the tolls had a cover boost due to dig in, but with a damage boost and the secendary explosion, several more pygs became casualties of the Northern Crusade.  The choir rushed forward to pray over the Guardian, Indictor and Judy to keep from getting bombs thrown on them (and thus, Sevy behind them).  Finally, the Covenant of Menoth again moved forward and protected those around him from getting knocked down.

Round Two:  Trollkin
     The Dhunian knot moved forward and placed Puppet Master on the Gun Carriage.  The Tuffaloes pulling the carriage huffed and puffed, and charged the Blessing of Vengeance to try and clear up the flag.  Blessing has Defensive Strike, and got one point of damage before the impact.  The Tuffaloes pulling the wagon dealt two damage, and the carriage itself managed another 3 damage with it's shots.  It would have been so, so much worse, but the added defense from Arcane Ward managed to keep the Blessing in the fight!  Bomber A took three shots at the Guardian, but only managed to inflict 20 points of damage.  Dygmies moved forward and dug in again, shouting "Freedom!!!" at the impending  Protectorate line.  Grissel cast Farstrike on herself, and then used her Quake shout, catching another poor defenseless choir boy and one of the Vassals, killing both of them, and catching the Guardian for another 2 points of damage.  Finally Bomber B used it's animius to put Farstrike on itself and hurling another bomb at the Guardian (man, when it rains, it pours!), finishing the overwhelmed 'jack off, while the Mauler continued to simply move forward and look menacing.  Growwwwwwlll!

                                                         

Round Three:  Protectorate
     Well, with the end of the second round, we would both be able to start scoring victory points, but all flags were contested, so nothing yet.  This round I was determined to get at least one flag under my control, but first the war wagon had to go!  To get things started, the Castigator charged the war wagon.  It did an impressive amount of damage, but the wagon was still there... I had one last chance to clear it out with the Blessing of Vengance.  First, Blessing shifted around until it was in base to base with the flag, but still in melee with the war wagon.  Then, a boosted attack and boosted damage roll finally finished off the battle engine.  The Indictor moved forward into range to help contest the middle flag, while Judy continued to move forward through the forest, killing two more Digmy's with melee attacks.  The Crusader moved forward into range to challenge the right hand flag, ready to attack some of the last few Digmy's.  Severius moved up behind the Indictor, and used his free spell to channel Ashes to Ashes through the Blessing of Vengence onto the Dhunian knot.  With an incredibly lucky roll managed to take out all three of the blue ladies.  The choir moved forward to yet again protect the jacks from the Bombers, and the Vassal Enlivened the Indictor.  To finish, the Covenant moved forward and invoked the Lawgiver's Creed to stop enemy spells in it's control area.  With that, my turn ended and I gained a control point for controlling the left hand flag.

                                              

Round Three:  Trollkin
     With all of the shooting from last round, there was an awful lot of fury on the board...too much for Grissel to pull off.  She took all she can, but Bomber A was left with a full amount of fury.  Grissel activated first, shooting her Quake call at the Crusader three times, dealing 19 damage, but not enough to destroy it.  Bomber A, full of fury, had to make a threshold check, but rolled a three, which meant that Troll was cool as a cucumber.  It walked forward and bombed the Crusader, but without the ability to boost damage rolls, only dealt two damage.  The Mauler moved forward to come into base to base with the right hand flag, and Bomber B got into position to try and bomb something next turn.  As the turn ended, I earned one more control point, bringing my total to two, while the Tollkin gained one.

                                                

Round Four:  Protectorate
     Victory draws ever closer!  But to clinch it, I really needed to get that last pigmy off of the middle flag.  A job for the Castigator, for certain!  A charge attack later, and the flag was mine!  After that, it was just a matter of positioning to keep my forces in control of my two flags.  I created a screen of the Indictor, Convenant and Vassal, and with the curve of the back of the forest, Severius moved up to stay protected on all sides.  As my turn ended, I gained two more control points, for a total of four, and the trollkin gained another one, for a total of two.

Round Four:  Trollkin
     After a long time in the tank, thinking of what could be done to save the game, a run through of an assassination attempt on Severius (impossible, as it turned out with him sitting on five focus and protected by the forest), the trolls used Bomber A to finish off the Crusader, and then realized that it was impossible to get the Blessing of Vengance off of the left hand flag.  Thus, DTB ended his turn, earning me my final victory point and the game.

Conclusion:
                                              

Victory for Menoth!  The remaining Trollkin forces, realizing that if everyone fought to the death there would be no one to warn their greater forces of the Northern Crusade at their doorstep, decided to quit the battle field, leaving Severius in control of their precious kriel stones, which were quickly dismantled to make way for shrines dedicated to the Creator of Man!


I had a great time during this game!  DTB is a wonderful opponent, and always a ton of fun to play against.  He's a very good player, and I always learn a  lot from playing against him!  He and his team are going to be a great challenge during the team tourney in October!  If anyone wants to come get a game in, you are of course welcome!  The Fukuyama gaming club is meeting next on June 11!  Join us for the glory of Menoth!!!