Widower's Wood, Chapter 5.5

In the March meeting of the Fukuyama Gaming Club, we had several great games between Cygnar, the Trollkin, and the Protectorate of Menoth!  We're getting closer and closer to the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Tournament, and that means it's getting down to crunch time!  Since the FGC only meets once a month, that means that there are only 5 more meetings (we already had our April meeting!) until go time, so we are really trying to get our lists into fighting shape.  Luckily, I think that my lists feel pretty good where they are, and so they don't need any more tweaking... just a LOT MORE PRACTICE!!!  We didn't just do some practice runs and call it a day, however... oh no we did not!  There's always time for our current side game, Privateer Press' kickstarter game, Widower's Wood!

Speaking of Kickstarter, I wanted to just give a shout out to our buddies over at Word Forge Games who have a kickstarter LIVE RIGHT NOW!!!  That's right!  It's a 15mm skirmish wargame where the players control armies of drone tanks, and attempt to outmaneuver their opponents.  It looks like a ton of fun, and if you check out the kickstarter page, you'll find a bunch of great videos on how to play.  The tanks themselves are resin models, and looks pretty sweet!  It'll ship anywhere in the world, so no worries there!  Anyway, for more info, check out the kickstarter page here -> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wordforgegames/armoured-digital-miniatures-wargame/description

Announcments:
Fukuyama Gaming Club will meet again on May 20!  We hope you can join us!
Also, don't forget to register for the Japan Open!  There is only space for 8 teams, so it's first come first served!  Remember, the Tournament is on October 7th in Fukuyama city, Hiroshima Prefecture!

Working Hard or Hardly Working:
In a mere five models, both of my lists will be fully painted!  Add to that several models that I'm working on in trade for DTB like the Witch Coven and an Ogrun Bokur that I'm enjoying working on, and my painting table is in great shape!  The Bokur and the Coven are almost finished, and I've started on the two Choir members and the Paladin solo.  When the Choir is finished I'll throw the Champion of the Order of the Wall dragoon solo up there, and then I will be COMPLETE!!!!
     WIP: Ogrun Bokur

Mercenary Ogrun Bokur

This was actually a pretty fun solo to paint.  At first I thought that it was going to be a little difficult, but I really enjoyed it.  It's nice to step away from the purple and grey of the Interdiction of the Dawn (my Menoth army) and try something new!

     WIP:  Choir of Menoth

Two models to a full Choir

I never thought that I would ever paint another choir member again.  This was quite literally the first unit that I painted way back 12 years ago in Mark 1... the unit that made me decide to use Menoth instead of Cryx, actually.  I had been debating between the two factions, but the Choir models are what pushed me over the edge to the Protectorate.  In 12 years of playing Warmachine, I've only ever used a minimum unit of them... but my Tristan list uses 6 'jacks, and I can't protect them all with just four Choirboys, so here two more sit... it'll be interesting to paint them up just to see how much  my painting has improved over the last decade, haha!

Orgoth ruins surrounded by Trogs!

Which bring us, finally, to our continuing saga of Olo, our valiant Croak hero, and his merry band, trying to save the Widower's Wood swamp from falling under the control of a water fearing, crazy witch doctor, Rasheldonak... Sheldon to his friends, if he had any before he ate them.  Today, we took a crack at chapter 5.5, the last of the Kickstarter exclusive goodies that I got as part of my swag... that is to say, the unlocked stretch goals from the Kickstarter.  There are two more that I got for the Dead Man Walking expansion, but we're going to take a break once we're done with the main campaign, and might come back to the expansion in half a year or so after we get a few different games in.  The campaign is so close to being done, it's kind of exciting!  After this exclusive chapter, there are TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!!!  We haven't lost a chapter yet, though it's been a close thing!

The Story So Far:
After managing to escape from the Feralgeist ambush, the heroes have been closing in on Rasheldonak's ritual site.  But the Widower's Wood is a place full of old magic, and on their way, they stumbled upon an old Orgoth relic.  Some Bog Trogs, under the orders of Sheldon, are trying to conduct a ritual on the stone head that will make it easier for Sheldon to complete his own.  And easier for Sheldon means harder for us!  Looks like we'll have to beat up on some Troggy tail!  As usual, I took on Agata, my porcine princess, Leland took on Vaskis, and it looks like DTB will take both Olo and Skarg from now on (Leland has become "Villain guy" and I'm "Rules and Events", so it saves time for DTB to take the extra character).

Chapter 5.5, Orgoth Ruins:

The Board is Set

Okay, so right there in the middle of the board is a broken stone monument, and that is the focus for today.  And at the bottom of the board, there are two Mist Speakers (one red and one blue).  Now, the head has 8 wound tokens on it, but the Mist Speakers on their activations have a 2/3 chance of taking one of those wounds, adding it to THEIR OWN health, and putting an XP on the head.  The other 1/3 of the time all heroes have to make a hazard roll as the magic goes crazy!  Once the Mist Speakers have stolen all of the wound tokens from the head, they will try to escape and take all that magic to Sheldon.  If even one of the Mist Speakers escapes, we lose... Our plan seems to be to kill off the Mist Speakers as fast as possible, since they could become WAY too powerful if they take a lot of the wound tokens.  Add to that the fact that every XP on the head gives any undead villains (ie, Swamp Shamblers) +1 ARM, making these relatively easy to smash baddies a bit more of a threat, and the chapter becomes much more difficult to manage as the Mist Speakers do their work.  And each time a Bog Trog is incapacitated, the stone head turns it into a knocked down Swamp Shambler.. ugh!

Behold!  Orgoth magic at work!

Round one kicked off with High Water as the event card, but that won't bother us so much this turn, so good time to have that one.  Olo charged the Viper Tatzelwurm near him to grab a bit of extra movement on his way to the side quest.  He managed to kill it off, and was quickly followed by Vaskis using Wings of Air to make a longer move and set up his money maker, Sunhammer!  Sadly for our favorite Croak, the villain action for both of the them has all the Bog Trogs going after Olo! Olo spawned a villain in 6.....Vaskis spawned a villain in 6... Skarg spawned a villain IN 6!!!  Yikes!  To try and help out, Skarg charged into the mass of baddie heading for Olo, and hit a Viper Tatzelwurm so hard that he reached down it's throat and ripped out it's heart, which he feasted upon to heal his left over wound from last game.

Run, Olo!

And then, Agata also spawned a villain in 6....Whaaaaa?  What the heck, dice!  She then used her feat card Hoof It to make it into the Sunhammered square.  Then, time for the two Mist Speakers.  One of them caused all the heroes to take a hazard roll, while the other one took one of the wounds off of the monument.

Vaskis, Master of the Sunhammer

Round 2 pulled the Boss event card (eep!)  One more damage from the stone head, one more hazard roll... and it's only round 2 and there are only 6 wounds on the head!  Plus, all Shambers have become +2 arm!  Olo spawned a villain... in 6!  Hahaha!  And followed that up by getting to the side quest card!  Yeah!  6 XP to us!  It was a Feral Charm...mmmm, Agata want!  I may have a chance at the end of the game to try and convince the group to let me take it!  Vaskis charged the Tatzelwurm in the forest near him, taking 2 hazard rolls (oops, sorry for the 2 damage, Leland!) as he left the occupied square, and managed to kill it!  Woot!  His villain action sent a +2 ARM Shambler after Olo, but Olo is pretty slippery, and the shambler is a rotting pile of goo and missed.  Skarg also Hoofed it to move out of his total mess so he could shoot the blue Mist Speaker.  Agata moved out of her square, taking TWO HAZARD DAMAGE!!  Wow, we are not doing well with the hazard rolls this game!  Using her great strength Savagery which lets her take an attack at every model in her square for each attack she makes, she cuts down one Viper Tatzelwurm and both Bog Trogs, who immediately become Shamblers.  With her second attack, she killed one of the spawned Shamblers, as well!  Then during the villain action, she used her Feat card Pursuit to move another square.  And to finish the round, during the Mist Speaker action one more wild blasts of energy flooded the board, but none of us took any damage, and another wound left the head.

Agata and Vaskis hold off the rampaging horde

Round 3 brought another Boss Event card again!  One more wild energy blast, one more wound from the head!  Half way to the finale!  Olo charged a spawned Swamp Shambler, but with a +4 ARM and resilient flesh (needing double damage to hurt it, since, you know, it's a zombie) it only got knocked down.  Vaskis went after the second Side Quest since he was right there, but didn't make his INT check to actually find the item hidden in the bushes.  During his villain action, BOTH Mist Speakers drew off a wound from the head, bringing it down to the last two!  Skarg moved into another empty square and shot the blue Mist Speaker again.  Agata used another of her great strengths March to charge through the rough terrain at the Red Mist Speaker, doing double damage twice!  Yeah!  Go, Slaughterhauser of my heart!  Only one damage left on the red Mist Speaker.  That Mist Speaker hit Agata with an attack during it's activation, but failed to damage her (phew!), while the blue Speaker took one more wound from the head.... last one to go!

Skarg faces off against the Mist Speaker

Olo moved out of the Shambler square without taking any damage!  He then turned and threw a corrosive slime gourd at the zombie, but missed... Vaskis tried again for the Side Quest, this time making the roll and finding a Hand of Glory (knocks down all enemies in your square or an adjacent square once per chapter).  That's pretty good for Vaskis, since he always is the bait that leads the horde of baddies away from the action!  And I'll never say no to 6 more XP for finding the Side Quest.

Hand of Glory for Vaskis!

Skarg held and aimed, which lets him shoot the Mist Speaker 2 times!  One shot did double damage, but the other missed... oh well, we can't all be Agata, Skarg.  Don't worry, we won't hold it against you!  He spent a feat card to deal the final damage to the Speaker, leaving us with only one Speaker with only one damage left!  Come on, Agata!  Aaaaaaaaaand..... Agata smacked that Mist Speaker in the FACE!!!  And then, snacks upon his fishy flesh to heal 2 of her wounds.  Now all that's left is the stone head!

Fish 'n' chips for dinner tonight!

Olo's spawn continued to throw villains at Vaskis' square!  The Blackclad looks like he's going to be overrun soon!  Then Olo moved into the forest and threw a Vitriolic Fire gourd at the head, dealing double damage!  Then, Vaskis used his newly found Hand of Glory to knock down all the villains in the square next to him, which is good, because he really has a TON of guys who want to eat him!  Skarg held and aimed again, taking two shots and dealing 3 damage to the head.  Only three damage to go, but oh no!  Olo is in trouble!  The Villain Actions have brought a horde of villain on his head, and Olo goes down!

Hold tight, Olo!  We'll save you!

Come on, Agata!  The Great Finisher takes backs her title as she takes two attacks at the head and deals the last 3 damage!  Game over!

Conclusion:

Pshaw... Orgoth magic isn't what it used to be!

Victory for us!
Looks like Skarg and Agata are neck and neck for being MVP!  Actually, this chapter I felt like we were in pretty good shape the whole game!  We never seemed to be losing control, and we still had 7 rounds until the event cards ran out.  Now that the kickstarter exclusive chapters are over, let me say I really enjoyed them!  They were a great way to pick up some extra XP, for sure!  I wish that they had had a little more impact on the main game itself, but I know that would be difficult.  Bottom line, they were a lot of fun, and I'm glad that I picked up the kickstarter!
And Olo graciously handed over the Feral Charm to Agata!  Yes!
Next meeting will be on May 20!  Come down and get a game in!

AAR - Standoff SNAFU

Well, well, well... Spring has arrived in full force!  And with the warm breeze has come, for the first time... the information for the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Tournament!  We are officially getting underway, and here, in a Duty Log exclusive, is all the information you need to join us! That's right, it's almost time for the Crash at the Castle... the Rumble 'round the Ramparts...

We wanna join the tourney!

Japan Open Team Tournament:
     Date:  Sunday, October 7th, 2018
     Location:  Fukuyama Civic Center, behind Fukuyama Castle
     Time:  Doors open at 9, Registration at 9:15, First round begins at 10:00
     Players:  8 teams of 3 players each (24 participants total) will battle it out for the Championship.

     Cost:  4500 yen per team (1500 per person)  This amount will include the fee for renting the room, all mats, terrain and zones that will be used in the tournament (provided by the Fukuyama Gaming Club), as well as prizes and trophies.  After the tournament there will be a dinner party for those who wish to attend, more details on that to follow!  Also, there will be an open gaming day the day after the tournament at the same location (October 8th), which will cost 500 yen per person (you absolutely do not HAVE to come to the open day, but we'd love to see you there!).

     Armies:  This tournament will be played according to the 2018 Steamroller rules, so make sure you check that on the Privateer Press site to see what requirements for army creation are.  EACH PLAYER must bring 2 75 point lists from their corresponding Factions (team members do not need to field the same faction, but both lists for every player must be from the same faction).  These lists MUST be submitted by email to the Tournament Organizer by Midnight, Monday October 3rd, and each player must bring a written or printed list to be made avaliable for your opponents.  ALL MODELS IN BOTH LISTS MUST MUST MUST BE PAINTED AND BASED WITH FRONT ARCS MARKED AS PER THE HARDCORE RULE SET.  There will be no exceptions, unpainted models will forfeit the match, so PAINT YOUR MODELS!!!

     Teams:  This is a team tournament.  Teams will consist of 3 player.  Teams may assemble themselves, or, if a person needs help finding a team, we can assist them in finding teammates.  If you would like to participate and need help being place on a team, contact the tournament organizer.  There will be no geographical restrictions on teams so a team can include a player from Tokyo and a player from Fukuoka (for example).   TEAMMATES MAY NOT ASSIST EACH OTHER OR OFFER ADVICE WHILE BATTLES ARE IN PROGRESS.

     Prizes:  Trophies/medals will be awarded to each member of the top three teams, as determined by Steamroller 2018 criteria.  There will be additional prizes for "Best Painted" and "Best Sportsmanship", as well as a special prize for our most unlucky team.

     Contact: To register or make any inquiries, please contact the following people...
          Eric Perez - Tournament Organizer -vigilantecowboy@hotmail.com
          Daniel McCartney - English Coordinator - rodserling@hotmail.com

Working Hard or Hardly Working:
I am pleased to announce that finally... FINALLY... Sovereign Tristan and the remaining 4 Deliverer Skyhammers are FINISHED!  And because I wanted to be done DONE with Deliverers, I also finished the Delieverer Arms Master and the 2 grunts for my unfinished Deliverer Sunburst Crew, leaving the actual Sunburst itself as the final Deliverer model left for me to paint!
     Working Hard:  Sovereign Tristan Durant and 4 Deliverer Skyhammers

And with that, both of my warcasters for this year are complete!  Now, just a few solos left to have 2 fully painted lists.  With the Skyhammers finished, the Testament of Menoth's list is only a few models from completion!  The Champion of the Wall (mounted and unmounted), a Paladin solo, and 2 Choir members are all that's left to reach full paint!

Announcements:
The Fukuyama Gaming Club is meeting next on May 20!
Also, our buddies down at the Saijo Gaming Club in Hiroshima City will be meeting April 15.
But even more important, get your teams together and register for the 6th annual Japan Open!
 

The Winter Witch is come!

And with that, let's take a look at one of the epic battles that we had at the March meeting of the Fukuyama Gaming Club.  This month we had a standoff between one of the newest Trollblood warlocks, Kolgrima Stonetruth, the winter witch, and Sovereign Tristan Durant, who recently became a fully fledged warcaster for the Protectorate.  I had really high hopes for this battle...I'm super interested in all the new Northkin stuff that's coming out for the Trollbloods, so I was really happy to face this army, which also included the new Lookout models!  Tristan is also one of my favorite of the Protectorate warcasters as far as story goes... that whole "good guy trying to save as many as he can in a bad situation" kind of thing really calls to me.  Unfortunately...this was definitely not one of my great battles.  Not by a long shot.  As DTB said, "You were your own worst enemy."  Yeah, it was really.... not pretty... Well, you'll see.  We ended up with the Standoff scenario, and sadly, since DTB gets to add +1 to his starting roll due to his theme force, he won the starting roll and chose to go second.... NOOOO!!!  I like going second!  Dang!

Army List, Protectorate of Menoth:

Tristan's Guardians of the Temple

     Warcaster - Sovereign Tristan Durant
         Vanquisher
         Reckoner X 2
         Repenter
         Revenger
         Redeemer
         Temple Flameguard (Maximum)
           - Officer and Standard Bearer
         Daughers of the Flame
         Choir Of Menoth (Minimum)
         Phyrrus, Flameguard Hero

Okay, so first of all, we noticed after the game was completed that this is actually not a valid list... too many points... oops!  Not that it helped me, haha!  Phyrrus is floating in there for no good reason.  He just tagged along with the rest of the Flameguard.  Any-hoo, so this is a Guardians of the Temple theme list, it will give me Ambush for the Daughters of the Flame (who also have Acrobatics and Anatomical Precision, which will make them devestating in the backfield, especially against Trollkin since they can't make Tough rolls!).  Also, my Temple Flameguard will get Tough and cannot be knocked down in B2B.

Army List, Trollblood:

Kolgrima's Kriel Company

     Warlock - Kolgrima Stonetruth, the Winter Witch 
          Runebearer
          Glacier King
          Pyre Troll
          Scattergunners (Maximum)
            - Officer and Standard Bearer
           Pyg Lookouts (Maximum)
           Bushwackers (Maximum)
             - Officer and Moarter
           Sluggers (Minimum) X 2
           Pummler Crew
           Thumper Crew

Ahhh, nostalgia... this is a list that reminds me of a lot of DTB's old Mk. 2 lists (and my old lists, to be honest), which means LOTS OF DUDES!!!  This is a Kriel Company theme force, which gives DTB a +1 to his starting roll, and all of his warrior models can see through other friendly warrior models to draw line of sight and he can shoot through them and all kinds of stuff... something about being unable to accidentally shoot his own models, or something that sounds a bit cheatery to me...

Setup, Protectorate:

We fear no Witch!

I started by placing a skirmish line of the Temple Flameguard (and the illegal Phyrrus model) as far forward as they could go, with the Revenger on the right side of them to try and get my arc node as far into the field as it could go.  Behind the Flameguard were the three heavy 'jacks, the two remaining light 'jacks, Tristan next to the Vanquisher, and the Choir mixed in to get as much coverage as possible while still maintaining formation.

Setup, Trollblood:

Trolls are ready to go!

DTB started by banging down a GARGANTUAN right in the middle of the board... ugh!  In front of them went the Scattergunners in a skirmish line, with the Pummeler Crew on the right flank, and one unit of Sluggers between the heavy gun and the Gargantuan.  On the other side of the Scattergunners, Kolgrima set up next to her Pyre Troll and Trollsus.  Left of the flaming troll was the second set of Sluggers, and finally the Thumper Crew.

Advanced Deployment, Protectorate:
My Daughters of the Flame have advanced deployment, but since the theme force grants them Ambush, instead of normal deployement, you can choose to have them come onto the board from any table edge (except your opponent's deployment zone), in any of your maintainence phases.  So, I'll keep them back for now!

Advanced Deployment, Trollblood:

Pygs are speedy!

The Lookouts went right in front of the ice wall near the central rectangular zone, while the Bushwackers hid behind the forest on the left.  Mighty Pygs, out in front!  Have I mentioned lately that I love the new Lookout models?  They are DELIGHTFUL!  How can I actually try and take out that dude hanging out in the snowman?  Privateer Press really does a good job on their models...

Our Story:
The Northern Crusade has ended.  Tristan, in his new role as Sovereign, was sent to escort several unis of Flameguard from Lael back to the heart of the Protectorate.  As he and his forces passed through the last of a winter storm, they were ambushed by the Winter Witch, on one of her many patrols to protect her fellow Northkin and their territory.  As the standoff between the two leaders intensified, a skimrish between the two was the only possible outcome.


Round 1, Protectorate:

Get to the zone!

The Flameguard ran toward the edge of the zone and broke into 3 groups in B2B.  Phyrrus, ignorant of the fact that he shouldn't be there, ran to join the far right group.  The Revenger ran into the fog.  All of the other 'jacks ran to the edge of the zone, except the Vanquisher, who is S.L.O.W. and wasn't able to keep up, though he ran as far as he could.  The Choir moved up behind them and put passage on the Revenger, the Vanquisher, and both of the Reckoners.  Tristan moved up behind the Vanquisher and cast Inviolable Resolve on the Flameguard through the arc node on the Revenger.

Round 1, Trollblood:

Curse those troublesome Menites!

The Bushwackers took the lead by moving into the zone and taking 2 combined ranged attacks into the Revenger for 13 damage... Yikes!  Not a good start for me!  The Lookouts moved into the forest in the middle zone, while the Sluggers on the right ran forward.  The Pummeler Crew moved up and took a shot at the Flameguard, but missed... they were awfully far away!  The Scattergunners ran into the zone, and the second set of Sluggers also ran, as did the Thumper Crew.  Trollsus moved behind the wall, and put Harmonious Exaltation on Kolgrima.  The Glacier King used his Frozen Ground animus before charging the Vanquisher, which of course failed... the big frozen dummy!  Kolgrima cast Freezing Mist twice to make two cloud effects that would block line of sight to her troops and cause a -2 to attack rolls from living models that enter the cloud.  Cause it's cold... then she moved up behind the wall, before casting Vanish, letting her move in front of the wall before ending her turn.

Round 2, Protectorate:

Ohhhh, the horror... THE HORROR

Okay, this is where my defeat of myself began.  Turn one was a standard, strong turn.  Turn two is more of a ... well... you'll see.  The Temple Flameguard moved up a little and got into two large shield walls, and Phyrrus joined them.  Tristan moved forward and cast Manifest Destiny, giving an additional die on melee and damage rolls, drop the lowest die, to his whole battle group.  Then... FEAT!!!  Immediately, all his 'jacks gain 1 focus, and Tristan gets one focus from each of his 'jacks!  Yowza!  Using that extra focus, he cast Hand of the Creator on the Revenger to heal it for 3 points, and then cast Cleansing Fire at the Bushwackers, but missed.  The Choir moved up and put Battle on the Vanquisher, Redeemer, and both Reckoners.  Okay, so far, so good, right?  Well, this is where it all goes wrong...The Revenger moved to the edge of the zone... my poor sacrificial lamb... The Repenter used all three shots, and managed to knock down 1 Scattergunner and killed a Slugger... but I completely forgot about Manifest Destiny, and could have done so much more!  The Repenter flamed another Scattergunner, but even though it caught fire, it was tough and so was just knocked down.  The Vanquisher missed his shot against the Scattergunners because I forgot about Manifest Destiny again, while the Reckoner on the left did 10 damage on a shot to the Glacier King (again forgetting Manifest Destiny, so it could have been even better), and the right Reckoner completely pasted a poor little Pyg Bushwacker.  So, round 2, I paid for Manifest Destiny but didn't use it even a single time in six activations, didn't do anything useful with the Revenger except leave it out in the open to die, and FORGOT TO AMBUSH WITH THE DAUGHTERS!!!!  Nice!

Round 2, Trollblood:

The beatdown begins!

Okay!  So, there is a guy on fire, he's knocked down, and therefore cannot make a tough roll...all I need is a 3 or better to kill him off...DOUBLE ONES!  Haha, of course.
The Thumper Crew scooted up and took a shot at the Flameguard, killing two by pushing one through another before slamming into the Repenter.  But wait... if only I remembered my own rules!  And I quote "Inviolable Resolve - target model (ie, my Flameguard) cannot be moved by a push or a slam."  Wow.  So that's two spells that I spent the focus for but didn't remember to get any of the benefits for.  Sometimes I disappoint myself!  Oh well... I didn't remember at the time, so to the Creator of Man those two boys go!  The Scattergunners moved into the zone and opened fire!  They failed to kill the Standard Bearer, but did put 7 damage on the Redeemer.  The Glacier King aimed at the Repenter and did 6 damage, then reloaded and did another 10!  whaaa!  That's not good!  The Lookouts moved up to the very edge of the forest and opened fire, somehow managing to miss absolutely everything!

Look at this guy!

Yes!  Luck may be swinging my way!  The right Sluggers got three shots each and loaded them into the Revenger, but came away doing only about 4 damage!  The Bushwackers did 2 more CRA's (those are dangerous!), leaving 1 single damage point on the Revenger!  The Pyre Troll moved into the zone and finished off the poor Revenger that I sent off die for no appreciable gain.  At least he kept those guys busy instead of harrassing my other models.  The Pummeler took a shot at the left Reckoner, and missed!  It's an AOE, so it deviated back onto one of the left Sluggers and killed him!  Woot!  Kolgrima moved forward to the front edge of the zone and cast Freezing Mist two more times, trying to block line of sight and keep my guys from charging into her troops.  Then, she reached way down deep inside herself and FEAT!  In this feat she gets to push all enemy models in her control area 2" back and cannot make ranged attacks for one round (marked in this game by the lovely snowflake tokens DTB used!)  Trollsus and the other Sluggers moved forward, and that's 2 CP's to DTB!

Round 3, Protectorate:

No ranged attack for me this turn!

Okay...I'm not going to lie... last round, on both of our turns, I made a LOT of mistakes.  But that's okay!  Never give up!  I'm going to turn this game around, starting NOW!!!  First thing, Daughters Ambush onto the table!  I've got them staring down the backs of the Thumper Crew... not wanting to leave those poor Trolls any chance to notice their danger, they took the first activation.  One girl got into the backs of the Thumper Crew, and the others spread out into the Scattergunners.  Both Thumper grunts died horrible deaths (each Daughter gets 2 attacks), and 6 Scattergunners also fell.

Hey, did you hear something behind us?

The Flameguard charged, doing amazing work and dispatching the other 2 left Sluggers, 3 more Scattergunners, and one of the Lookouts (not the snowman, thank Menoth!).  Phyrrus walked into the Frozen Mist, for he fears no witchcraft, and killed another Lookout.  The Repenter brutally mauled another Scattergunner, while the Redeemer ran into the zone... gotta disrupt those zones or DTB will simply win on scenerio!  The Choir moved up and put Battle on the Vanquisher and the Reckoners.  The Right Reckoner FINALLY REMEMBERED THAT TRISTAN'S BATTLE GROUP CAN SEE THROUGH CLOUDS and charged the right Sluggers, taking out one and putting 10 damage on the Pyre Troll.  The other Reckoner watched his buddy go, remembered that he, too, can see through the clouds and followed his lead, charging another Slugger and putting 10 more damage on the Pyre Troll.  And.... BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!  Game Over!

Conclusion:
Victory for the Trollkin!

Though his forces were finally hitting their stride, Tristan had his Vanquisher vent a blast of steam, calling his forces back from the fighting.  He had no desire to risk any more of his troops to Kolgrima's magic.  His mission lay to the south, and he would gladly leave the north to its native kin.

Okay... so my main missteps -
     1) Spending lots of focus on spells and then not using the benefits of those spells
     2) Sacrificing my Revenger for no return
     3) Forgetting to Ambush with my murderous Daughters
     4) Most damning of all... spending all of the game staring at Kolgrima's Frozen Mist clouds thinking, aww, I can't shoot anything, I can't charge anything, what am I going to do when in reality, ALL of Tristan's battle group has True Sight, which ignores clouds for LOS and also ignores Stealth.
I roll my eyes at myself.  The good thing is, I learned a lot, and I mean, a LOT this game.  Next time I use Tristan, I guarentee I'll correct the problems and have a well oiled killing machine of an army, hungry for a win!

Thanks for the game, DTB!  Sorry you had to put up with my bumbling, but next time, I'll give you a run for your money!

Widower's Wood, Ghost Trap

Welcome, welcome!  Kick back and relax!  The February meeting of the Fukuyama gaming club was a great success!  A battle between Horgle and the Trollkin against the Testament of Menoth and the Protectorate of Menoth ended with the Protectorate squeeking out a win thanks to ToM's feat... there was also a mighty struggle between Cygnar led by Stryker and the same Horgle list that faced the Protectorate, which I wrote about in the last post, where the Trollkin managed to beat the clock and take the win.  And of course, we continued the fight to rid the Widower's Wood of a menacing Witch Doctor with evil dreams of controlling the whole swamp.

With the March gaming day fast approaching, work continues on my list of painting goals, but slowly.  In one more session, Sovereign Tristan and the Deliverers will be finished, and the Champion of the Order of the Wall will hit the painting table!  I know, I know... very exciting!

Announcements:
The Fukuyama Gaming Club will meet on March 18, April 1, and May 20!  Come join to get a game!  Also... exciting news!  It looks as though the FGC is going to be starting a very relaxed Dredd Ball league.  I don't know much about it, but I'll keep you posted as I learn more! 

As part of the Kickstarter that I bought Widower's Wood with, most of the stretch goals were reached!  That means lots and lots of goodies for me!  And several of those goodies were bonus chapters for the campaign.  There were two additional chapters for Widower's Wood (Chapters 3.5 and 5.5), two additional chapters for the Dead Men Walking expansion, and an extra chapter each for WW and DMW that could go in after any chapter.  After each session, we roll a die, and on a roll of a 6 we would play the extra chapter for Widower's Wood.  And last month, after trying desperately to save the Tatzelwurm from Rasheldonak's clutches, we rolled a 6!  That means it's KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE TIME!!!!  Woo hoo!

Olo catches himself a Ironback Snapper!

The Story So Far:
As we last left our heroes, they had failed to save a rare albino Tatzelwurm from falling into the clutches of the water fearing, psycho Witch Doctor Rasheldonak... who knows what devastating effect that miss will have!   We did, however, manage to finish off the Warlock, yay!  Vaskis managed to remove the collar that the Warlock was trying to  fit around the Tatzelwurm's neck.  Upon examining it, he has now figured out what Rasheldonak is doing.  The group headed out to try and track him down before he could finish his ritual... but suddenly, they hit a dead end... a valley full of the remains of a battlefield... and there's something moving around by the bodies... Feralgeists!  To fight off the 'beast possessing spirits, I took over Agata and it was my turn to control Skarg as well.  DTB took on Olo, and Leland once again took Vaskis.

One Shot Chapter, Ghost Trap:

Here we go!

So!  There are 4 purple heavy warbeasts that are knocked down around the board, and two Feralgeists that are running around, ready to jump into the beasts and use them to kill us!  In addition to the beasts, there are a number of Swamp Shamblers (dead Bog Trogs), Risen (dead humans), and some Thralls wandering around, trying to make us part of the party.  We have 12 rounds to incapacitate the Feralgeists or else we lose!  That sounds easy, but they are going to jump into the knocked down beasts, and so we'll have to kill the beasts, force the Feralgeists out, and kill them before they can jump into another one!  All the heroes started together for the first time in a while (but Olo, with his special ability, got to start one space closer to the action.  Our goal... keep the Feralgeists away from the Blackhide Wrastler.  In a strange turn of events, we decided to team up Agata and Skarg this time, and let the two support characters go on their own!  We'll see how it goes!

Round one started us off with the Strength of Death event card!  OH NO!!!  Olo led us off by bombing a few of the Risen that shambled a little closer to us, and then charged a Thrall and Risen, but missed them both... uh oh!  Vaskis had his back, though, and charged and killed the Risen before using Blood Boon to cast Chain Lightening, but missed, and then used Wings of Air to move into the inert Blackhide Wrastler's space.  The Feralgeists activated and possessed the Tatzelwurm and the Ironback Spitter.  All in all, we're pretty happy with those, I mean, we just faced a Tatzelwurm in the last chapter, and the Spitter is at least not as bad as the Wrastler!  Skarg started blasting away at the Tatzelwurm, and Agata charged over to take out the Thrall that was threatening Olo.

Another Tatzelwurm?

Vaskis decided that the best way to keep the Feralgeists from accidentaly getting into the Wrastler is to just destroy the Wrastler!  To damage an inert, unpossessed beast, you must do Super Damage to take away one of it's 5 wound markers, so it looks like this is going to take a while!  Skarg continued to whack away at the Tatzel-geist, doing another 2 damage!  Leaving Olo to help Vaskis, Agata went to try and help Skarg, charging a Risen and a Thrall, killing both, but she in turn got charged by the Tatzelwurm!!!  Luckily, she took no damage, and is ready to lay on the damage next turn!

Round 3 brought another swarm of Buzzard Beetles for our event card!  Wow, those beetles are dangerous!  None of the heroes were damaged, but a couple of random dead baddies went down.  Olo gathered his courage around him and CHARGED THE IRONBACK!!!  HAHAHA!  Can you believe it!  It's like when Merry Brandybuck decided to charge the king of the Nazghul!  And even better, he did 2 damage!  Yeah, you go, froggie!  Agata let LOSE, my piggy princess!  She killed a Shambler AND took down the Tatzelwurm!  Yeah!  The Feralgeist got bumped out into the square furthest from any of the heroes.

Agata and Skarg tag team the Tatzelwurm

Olo used his new Parry ability to leave combat with the Ironback so that he could throw a bottle of Vitriolic Fire back at the giant turtle, dealing 1 damage.  Vaskis killed a Thrall that got knocked down by the beetle swarms, then again used his Blood Boon (when he kills an enemy with a melee attack, he can immediately shoot off a spell), throwing Razor Wind at the exposed Feralgeist!  Yea... oh... no damage.  The Feralgeist made a dash for the Blackhide Wrastler, but Skarg managed to get it in his sights, and bye bye, ghostie #1!  Alright!  That's one down, one to go, and we're only on the 4th round!  To finish the round, the Ironback started stalking Olo, following him as he moved away.

Round 5 brought us the Boss event card.... Argh!  On a roll of a 6, the Ironback Spitter got 2 ACTIONS!!!  So, of course, the Spitter took two shots at Olo, but that is a slippery Croak, and Olo took no damage.  Vaskis shot a chain lightening at the Spitter and dealt another damage.  Skarg and Agata, a little far from the action, continued to try and pick off a few of the dead masses that were spawning all around them.  Agata charged a Risen, easily killing it, in an attempt to use the extra movement to get closer to where she needed to be to help out.  Skarg was fine a little farther back, so that he could try to cover some of the other inert beasts when the Feralgeist got pushed out of the Spitter.  And to finish the round, the Spitter continued to shuffle after Olo!  Run, Olo!  HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

I'm coming for you, Olo!

Olo made it to the Side Quest!  Unfortunately, it wasn't the continuation of the chain quest that we had started, but it turned out to be a Fettershot Rifle, which is an amazing ranged weapon!   After snagging the goods, he turned and glued the Spitter into its square, making sure that it can't charge him.  Skarg and Vaskis started moving around, getting ready for the next round's action, while Agata killed off a Risen and used her Overtake ability to move an extra space, trying to get into a charge on the Spitter next round.  And again, at the end of the round, the Spitter moved into Olo's square AGAIN!!!!  Ahahaha!  Run, Olo, run!

Pop goes the Feralgeist

Another Buzzard Beetle Swarm saw about half of the deadies go down as swarms of flesh eating beetles feasted upon their goopy corpses.  Olo turned around, and used his new found rifle on the turtle, and KILLED IT!!  Boo-ya!  That's what you get for stalking!  The Feralgeist got pushed out away from Olo near the Swamp Horror, and too far for Agata and Vaskis to help.  So, instead, Vaskis charged into a square that had a lot of dead walkers shambling around in there.

Vaskis just cannot get his Chain Lightening working!

He managed to kill off a Swamp Shambler, then used his Blood Boon ability to throw some Chain Lightening into the other walkers, but missed.  The Feralgeist ran forward towards the Swamp Horror... if Skarg can't kill it this turn, it'll make it to the beast next turn and wreck some Tharn booty!  So, with all our hopes riding on it, Skarg took aim... spent feat cards to get a boost to the roll... employed all his useable abilities... and shot the Feralgeist in the FACE!!!  Game over, biyatch!

Victory!!!
Conclusion:

Skarg the Marksman strikes again!

Wow!  Two games in a row, Skarg has taken the MVP award for sure!  If that Feralgeist had made it to the beast, we may not have been able to force it out again in time to win the game!  I guess my porcine heroine is starting to slip!  She'll have to step up her game and take the title back from her Tharn buddy!  With all the dead walkers we were bumping off, we raked in the XP, making a huge 46 total, which broke down to 12 XP each!  I can't wait to spend it and pick up another great ability!  We'll be playing the last of the Kickstarter exclusive chapters on March 18th, that will leave us with the two last chapters before we wrap up the campaign.  Come join us if you get a chance!

AAR - Negotiations Breakdown

Hello, everybody!  Spring is finally upon us, and I cannot explain how happy that makes me.  Aside from all the goodness that spring in Japan brings, like cherry blossoms and great weather, it also means that the devastating grip of coldness is finally loosening... and that means that instead of cowering under a zillion blankets on my couch, I can look forward to picking up my painting during my few and far between moments of down time. I'm zeroing in on hitting full paint status on both of the lists that I'll be using in the Japan Open Team Tournament this October... In fact, once the models on my table right now (4 Deliverers and Soverign Tristan Durant) get finished, that list will be complete!  I suspect that in a mere three painting sessions (nap time is a fickle thing, and it's length varies every time) those models will be done!

This month, DTB and I had a really great game between Horgle 2 using a Storm of the North Northkin theme force and TOM using a Faithful Masses theme force.  It was a great game that came right down to the wire with POM eeking out a victory right before the time ran out.  But what was even better than gaining the victory was feeling like I was coming to understand how to play the list much much better.  Instead of playing defensively and not really knowing what it was I was trying to do, I felt much more in control of what models needed to move where, overlapping skills and benefits (which is the bread and butter of the Protectorate), and resource management.  So!  Great game!  Gives me a little hope for the tournament.  But today, I will bring you, for the first time, a battle that did NOT involve the Protectorate!  That's right, it was a rumble in Blue, Trollkin Vs. Cygnar!  But first...

Cygnar Vs. Trollkin

Announcements:
The Fukuyama Gaming Club will be meeting again at the Community Center behind the castle on March 18, April 1 and May 20.  We'd love to have a couple more people join us, so if you feel like getting your game on, come on by!
And in exciting news, things are starting to come together for the 6th Annual Japan Open Team Tournament!  Sarge has agreed to run things again this year, and the teams are starting to form!  It looks like this year's teams are going to be totally different from last year's, as Sarge has decided to do away with region restrictions!  Beru and Tetsu, my partners from last year, are going to make a university team by picking up a third alumni from their school.  DTB and I are teaming up and currently looking for a third player.  Rantei, one of the winners on DTB's team from last year is going to team up with a couple of Tokyo players and go for the win again!  More on the JOTT6 as it gets closer!

Working Hard or Hardly Working:
This month I had a very important mission... to get the models ready for my painting exchange with DTB.   As I mentioned last time, I've taken on painting some Cryxian models for DTB's extra army, and in return, he's going to paint up two heavy jacks... the last unpainted heavy jacks in my army!  That's amazingly exciting.  The only jacks that are left for me to paint are the Purifier, a light jack that I'm not using this year, and the Revelator, a Collossal that I don't have yet, and won't have a chance to pick up until my next trip to the states (shipping charges on a collossal to Japan is BRUTAL!).   So, I put on the speed to get those two jacks up and ready for DTB by  the 18th.
     WIP:  The Hand of Judgement and the Eye of Truth

There they are!  Look good, right?  These are going to look amazing!  These are some of the newer models, so their lower bodies (legs and so on) are metal, but the upper chassis are made of resin, which means really amazing detail.  It's up to you, DTB!  Make 'em sparkle!

New Northkin model, Volka the Curseborn

In today's battle, Leland brought forth his Heavy Metal theme force, lead by the infamous Stryker 1 (a war criminal against the Protectorate, if you ask me!) against DTB's new super Northkin list, a Storm of the North theme list, lead by Horgle 2!  The fact that DTB is playing a Storm of the North list with a NON Northkin warlock seems a little funny to me, but it may work for him!  I really like a lot of the new Northkin models, like the Pyg Lookouts that have one of the little Pygs hiding in a snowman!  And the Hooch Hauler, which looks like a true beast of a model to put together and paint, but will be so amazing when done that it'll be worth it.  I've never had the desire to play Trollkin, but I sure do like their models and back story.   DTB rolled the Breakdown scenario, which gives them a rectangular zone scoreable by 'beasts and 'jacks in the center of the board, with a circular zone on each end, scoreable by units.

Army List, Trollkin:

Feel the winds of the North

   Warlock - Horgle, The Anvil
       Rok
       Dire Troll Brawler
       Axer
       Runebearer
       Northkin Raiders (Maximum)
       Trollkin Champions (Maximum)
            - Skaldi
       Northkin Fire Eaters X 2
       Northkin Bear Handlers (excellent models)
       Trollkin Champion Hero
       Volka Curseborn
Storm of the North is the new theme list for the Trollkin, and it's benefits are pretty good!  You get two 4" Snowdrifts within 20" of your table edge, you can upkeep spells on Northkin models for free (OMG, that is SUCH A GOOD BENEFIT) and all warrior models gain immunity to cold!

Army List, Cygnar:

Heavy Metal Cygnar

   Warcaster - Commander Coleman Stryker
       Ironclad X 2
       Ol' Rowdy
       Lancer
       Journeyman Warcaster
          Charger
       Trencher Journeyman
          Charger X 2
       Sword Knights (Maximum)
       Runewood
       Mechanic (Minimum)
This is a Heavy Metal theme force, which means lots and lots of 'jacks!  Leland is getting to use the new Trencher Jouneyman, this is the first time that I've ever gotten to see it!  The benefits are ok, pretty basic but not great... +2" on your deployment zone and solos gain a 3" reposition.

Setup, Trollkin:

Budge up, Budge up!

Horgle, finally a fully fledged warlock, set up in about the center of the deployment zone, with the Champs and Skaldi on his right.  The Champ Hero went on his left, with Rok, the Brawler and the Axer coming next, and Volka a little separate off to the left.


Setup, Cygnar:

Form Ranks!

Stryker and Rowdy set up almost exactly opposite Horgle, but Leland put out a skirmish line of the Sword Knights in front to keep him safe-ish.  Runewood went on the right edge of the line, next to the Jouneyman Warcaster hiding behind his Charger.  Both Ironclads took the left edge of the line, with the Lancer behind them, and bringing up the end of the line were the 2 Chargers and the Trencher Journeyman behind them.  Finishing things off, the Mechanics spread out a bit behind Rowdy.


Advanced Deployment, Trollkin:

Woah, speedy Trollkin today!

In response to my mockery last time, DTB brought a TON of advanced deployment this game.  The Raiders went ahead of the group of 'beasts in a skirmish line, and a set of Fire Eaters went on opposite sides of the Raiders.  The Bear Handlers still didn't deploy, as DTB decided to use their Ambush ability later on in the game, giving them the ability to come in at any place on any table edge (except Leland's deployment edge).


Advanced Deployment, Cygnar:

N.O.T.H.I.N.G!!

Strike while the iron's hot, amirite?

Our Story:
Heeding a call from their native son, mightly Warlock of the Kin, Borka Kegslayer, Horgle brought a force of Northkin down from the Frostspires.  In an attempt to honor previous Cygnarian treaties, Horgle met with Commander Stryker to negotiate for passage across a small streach of Cygnaran territories, but as tensions escalated, a fight broke out between the Raiders and the Sword Knights.  All thought of dipolomacy aside, both armies races to control the strongest position in the center of the field.

Round 1, Trollkin:

Ready, Set, Go!

Trollsus moved forward and gave Harmonious Exaltation to Horgle.  The Hero ran forward around the back of the cabin, while the left hand Fire Eaters ran into the zone.  The Raiders took their lead and also ran forward into both the left hand and middle zones.  The other Fire Eaters also ran, ending up behind the wall in the right hand zone.  Volka ran into the forest, just a little outside of the zone.  The Champs ran into the snow drifts, ignoring the cold since they're Northkin and due to the theme force benefit they ignore any penalties from the drifts.  Horgle cast Solid Ground on himself and Firestarter on Rok.  Then, he moved about 5" forward and and put Inviolable Resolve on the Champs.  The Axer used his Rush animus on Rok, and then moved 5" to the edge of the fog.   The Brawler riled and ran into the fog, while Rok ran 12" thanks to Rush to pass the Brawler as he almost made it to the middle zone.

Round 1, Cygnar:

Go Blue!

The Journeyman's Charger (hereby known as JW Charger) moved around the forest that was blocking his view and took a shot at the Fire Eaters in front of him.  He managed to kill off one and knocked down the Pyg.  JW Charger's Journeyman wriggled forward a bit and took a shot at the Raiders, managing to kill 1 before repositioning back.  Runewood gave the Sword Knights Pathfinder before taking a shot at the Raiders himself.  Alas, he missed, and repositioned back.  The Sword Knights ran forward to engage the Raiders to keep them from throwing bombs all over the field, but kept a second wave back just in case (good move, Leland!).  The leftmost Trencher Journeyman Charger (Outie TJ Charger) moved up "a squish" and shot at the Fire Eaters behind the wall, also killing one!  The other Trencher Journeyman Charger (Innie TJ Charger) "squiggled" forward, staying on the hill for a little defense boost, missed a shot at the Fire Eaters.  Dark Ironclad moved up, followed by the Light Ironclad, and behind them, the Lancer.  "Sometimes I play like I'm not dumb" our intrepid Leland remarked, and he's not wrong, this is a good start to his game!  Stryker moved up, cast Arcane Shield on the Lancer, and then channeled an Arcane Bolt through the arc node on the Lancer at the Fire Eaters, dealing 3 damage.  Ol' Rowdy moved up next to Stryker, while R2D2 snuggled up right behind them.  The Mechanic's moved up to keep pace, while the Trencher Warcaster Dug In on the hill.

Round 2, Trollkin:

The Bears take the field!

BEARS!!!  Two Ambushing bears and their Khadoran manhunter looking Trollkin handler are a terrifying sight to be seen!  DTB chose the table edge near the Trencher Journeyman and his Chargers, and they will get to activate this round!  The Hero ran around the cabin and into the zone, while the Fire Eaters left the safety of the wall to charge the Lancer with Assault.  The big guy sprayed the Chargers, but missed.  The Champs ran into the zone behind the wall the Fire Eaters had left.  And then, it was time... BEARS CHARGE!!!  The Handler and one of the Bears left only 1 damage on the Innie TJ Charger, while the second bear forced the Trencher Journeyman to spend a focus to take only 2 damage.  Trollsus moved forward and again gave Harmonious Exaltation to Horgle.  The Axer ran up behind the Raiders to support them, while Horgle moved behind the drifts, casting Ornery on himself and Rush on Rok.

Knights Vs. Raiders

The left hand Fire Eaters charged the JW Charger, dealing 5 damage on the Assault shot.  Rok ran to the front edge of the zone, while the Brawler followed at a run into the back corner of the zone and riled.  The Raiders looked the Sword Knights in the visor slits and fought back, killing 2.  Turn over!  But hark!  What's this?  Volka, feared leader of the Northkin, didn't activate this turn!  Just hanging out in the forest, eh?  His curse seems to be getting worse!

Round 2, Cygnar:

Oh noes!  Leland made a mistake that we all make.... and forgot to allocate!  D'oh!  Don't give up, you can get over this!  The Mechanics moved up to fix some of his jacks, healing one damage on the Outti TJ Charger.  The Trencher Journeyman hit the bear for 2 damage, used a focus to buy a second attack... missed.  Used a focus to buy a third attack... missed... ugh!  Outti TJ Charger killed off his own bear, and the Innie TJ Charger killed the other one... aww, no more bears!  The Dark Ironclad walked over to the Handler, mourning his dead bears, and put him out of his misery.  The Lancer then took a stab at one of the remaining Fire Eaters BUT... missed all three attacks.  Runewood moved forward, giving Pathfinder to the Sword Knights, shot the Pyg Fire Eater, and repositioned back.  The JW Charger moved up and finished off the last Fire Eater before putting his second shot on a Raider.  The Sword Knights killed 2 more Raiders and knocked down another 2.

Stryker bravely hides behind the forest

The Light Ironclad charged Rok, dealing 4 damage... yikes!  That's a brave Ironclad!  If Leland can't kill Rok off, I'm not sure the Ironclad is going to make it!  Ol' Rowdy walked around the forest to get a look at the rest of the field, and Stryker moved team up with him, shooting an Arcane Bolt at a Raider and killing it as he went, and then.... FEAT!!!!  To finish off, The Journeyman Warcaster cast Arcane Shield on the Light Ironclad to try and keep it alive.

Round 3, Trollkin:

The Raiders started the round by trying to fight back against the Sword Knights, but did NOTHING!!!  Stryker's feat saved the day.  The surviving Fire Eaters just kind of stood around the Lancer, not doing much.  Rok, much to my surprise, decided not to smash the Ironclad into scrap, but instead threw the warjack at Rowdy.  He missed hitting Stryker's buddy, but the Ironclad was knocked down after the throw.  Horgle moved up and put Primal on the Axer, who then charged straight into the Sword Knights, using Thresher, which lets him make one attack against every model in his front arc.  He got a great set of rolls, killing 2 Storm Knights and one Raider.  The Axer then bought 2 more attacks to kill off 2 more Knights.  Trollsus ran forward to keep up with the action, and the Basher inched over to set up for next round....and DTB ended his turn.  But WAIT!!!  Who is that still hanging out in the forest???  Volka?  WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE?  Two rounds in a row, the Curseborn was forgotten.

Round 3, Cygnar:
The Lancer attacked the Fire Eaters, killing one more.  The Mechanics went to work, moving forward to repair the Outtie TJ Charger for 3 points.  The JW Charger moved into the zone and shot another Raider, killing it.  The Journeyman herself moved up to hide behind her 'jack, while Runewood shot the Axer, sadly doing no damage.  The Sword Knight pressed their attack, killing off two more Raiders.  The Innie TW Charger moved, and took a shot at the Hero for 2 damage, followed by the Outtie TW Charger doing the same, who managed to kill the Hero, BUT the Hero is Tough, and can't be knocked down thanks to the Solid Ground spell that Horgle has had up the entire game (a good plan, since models lose Tough if they are knocked down, and that's one of the Trollkin's strongest points in the attrition game).  The Light Ironclad stood up and walked forward next to Rok again... my, what a brave 'jack!  Rowdy turned his attention on the final remaining Fire Eater and hits it twice, but oh no!  It is also Tough!  Sadly, luck can only run so long, and on Rowdy's third attack, he finally managed to squish it into a yucky blue paste.  Stryker walked up next to Rowdy and took a shot at one of the upcoming Champs hiding behind the wall, dealing 3 damage.  The Dark Ironclad charged another Champ, dealing 13 damage that got shared around a bit.  The Trencher Journeyman Warcaster moved up behind his Chargers, and R2D2 went next to Stryker and ....... BEEPBEEPBEEP!!! Game over!


Conclusion:
Victory for the Trollkin.

What... is the fight over?

As the war of attrition began to swing against Stryker, the red haired warcaster signaled his forces to stand down.  If Horgle and his troops wanted to simply move through the area on their way to meet up with Borka, he would allow it, if it meant keeping his remaining warriors alive.

Great game, guys!  I especially love the way a very expensive solo just kind of hung out all game.  No wonder he's called the "Curseborn", his curse is so strong he got lost in the woods on his way to the fight!  Ha!  Thanks for letting me chronicle this epic battle!  Can't wait to throw my models down on the 18th!  If you're spoiling for a game, meet us there!