RNR Arkham Asylum

Fighting epic battles on the table top is the center of our gaming club's activities, especially with the tournament coming up in a few months.  We are all working hard to get our army lists into shape and ironing out any last minute problems we might have.  That being said, there is always time for a little palate cleanser when the battles have all concluded, and we often enjoy a board game to finish our meeting days.  There are a lot of great games that we are currently dabbling in, like Zombicide, Zombicide:  Black Plague, Star Trek:  Attack Wing, to name just a few.  This month, we busted out one of my favorite games, Arkham Asylum.

They city of Arkham

Arkham Asylum by Fantasy Flight Games is a board game set in the world of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.  Strange events are happening around the city of Arkham... several investigators, controlled by the players, have to go around the city collecting clues to what's been going on.  Each round, a portal to the outer realms opens, spilling monsters and worse into the city streets, and it's up to the investigators to fight the monsters, and even more terrifying, dive into the portals to close them and stop the eventual awakening of one of the Great Old Ones, a being so powerful and horrible your very sanity could be destroyed!

For this game, we used the Dunwich Horror expansion to extend the board and add several cards to the decks.  Three players, DanTrollBlitzer, Leland and myself took control of four investigators.  With two or three players this feels like the right amount of characters.  The number of investigators used controls several things, including how many monsters can be loose on the board at a time, influences one of the winning conditions, and determines how quickly the "terror track" rises.  The "terror track" shows what the current fear level of the inhabitants of Arkham are feeling as strange events and monsters continue to show up in the city, occasionally closing stores and other locations where investigators will want to go.  For this game, we chose the last four investigators we hadn't used yet...Diana Stanley the redeemed cultist, Marie Lambeau the entertainer, Wilson Richards the handyman, and Rita Young the athlete.

Investigator card, ready to go

For our Great Old One, we randomly selected Abhoth... and man, is he a pain in the butt.  We've played through the game several time with several different Old Ones, but never has one given us so much trouble!  Thoughout most of the game, the Great Old One sleeps, but influences some game aspects as they shift in their slumber.  For example, Yig gains a doom token when his cultists are killed or an investigator is lost in Time and Space, while Nyarlathotep has special, especially evil monsters added to the monster cup.  Abhoth has no human worshipers, so instead of cultists monsters, we had to add three special "children of Abhoth" monsters, which are released into Arkham anytime there is a gate surge.  (A gate surge occures when a gate opens in a space where a gate is already open).  If all three are on the board at one time and there is another gate surge, then the doom track goes up by one, and the terror track of Arkham goes up by two!

The game progression is fairly simple... first each investigator takes a movement action.  Usually this involves trying to reach a space with a clue token (you need 5 to close a gate permanently), come into contact with a monster to battle it, or move toward an open gate in order to dive into it to try and close it.  Then, there is the encounter phase.  Unless you have taken a special action, like trying to heal either you body at the hospital or your sanity at the asylum, or if you finish your movement in the streets, you have an encounter at the location you are standing in.  There is a deck of cards for each location's encounters.  Sometimes they are beneficial, most depend on the roll of the dice, and some are downright awful!  But all are interesting.  DanTrollBlitzer has a standing rule that says, "If the card starts 'Do you place your hand/ do you talk to the man/ do you pick up the item' then the answer is NO!" I, on the other hand, NEVER RETREAT and will often attempt to play along!  Certainly they add flavor to the feeling of insanity that begins to sweep through the city.  Once everyone in Arkham has had an encounter, anyone in the outer realms had a Other World encounter.  These are also often very bad....mostly.  Finally, at the end of the round, there is a Mythos card, which contains either a News Headline (Murders in the Easttown Streets!) a Rumor (Profane Relic Seized!) or an environment card (Icy Conditions).  After resolving the effects on the card, it tells a location where a new clue appears, dictates the location of the new gate that opens, and gives directions to how the monsters on the board move.

The Redeemed Cultists goes shopping

Well, we had a pretty rough go of it.  The doom track goes up by one every time a new gate opens (Abhoth has a doom track of 11).  When the doom track is full, the Great Old One awakens, and the FINAL BATTLE BEGINS!  Dun-dun-DUN!!!  Now, usually after the third or fourth turn, the Mythos card places a gate in a location that has already been closed, thus NOT adding to the doom track.  However, this game, we got incredibly unlucky.  Every turn... EVERY TURN a new gate opened, and the doom track went up, up, up!  After that, several gate surges happened, and while that didn't raise the doom track by itself, it did release the Children of Abhoth, and when they were all on the board, the terror track went up, up, up!  And because of Abhoth's special power, so did the doom track!  Our investigators did their best to close up gates, but eventually there just weren't enough clue tokens for each investigator, and new tokens were often blocked by the incredibly hard to kill Children of Abhoth!  And slowly, the shops began to close, until the terror track finally maxed out.  Now, when that happens, you know you're in trouble.  Then, it was just a matter of time...

Terror reigns in Arkham

And finally, like an avalanche starting at the top of a mountain, there was no stopping the inevitable.  Abhoth, the Great Old One, awoke!  Dun-dun-DUN!!!  Now, to fight Abhoth, each investigator must at the beginning of each round discard a total of three clues, monster trophies (which you get by killing monsters), gate trophies (which you get by closing gates) or items.  Any combination is fine, but you must do it, or Abhoth simply devours you.  Then, each investigator attacks, and every four successes you get deals one point of damage to the old one.  Each point of damage will remove one token from the doom track.  So, let's do the math... Abhoth has a doom track of 11, you need four successes to deal one point of damage... 44 successes will put the Great Old one to sleep.  Most investigators will roll an average of 5 dice, and a success is on a 5 or 6.  Unfortunately the Handyman was cursed, so he could only succeed on a 6.  Even more unfortunately, I had no weapons, since I had to discard them to keep from getting eaten, so I couldn't help with the fight.  As you may imagine, we slowly were devoured, one at a time, while doing only three measly damage to Abhoth...

Marie prepared to fight Abhoth!

Sorry Arkham!  Our investigators were not up to the challenge.  There are probably few things worse then being devoured by a Great Old One...We had incredibly bad luck with our Mythos phase.  Hopefully next time we'll have a little more luck, better investigators, and a new Great Old One to contend with!  Next time, we will prevail!

Next gaming day in July 16th!  Anyone is welcome to join!

AAR Skirmish! Gatormen Vs. Protectorate of Menoth

This month we welcome a new member to the Fukuyama gaming club!  We're always glad to see new faces especially those that are ready to jump right in and get their feet wet!  And that's exactly what Leland did, almost literally, with a borrowed Gatorman army (my army, in fact!), Bloody Barnabas in command.  For this first game, we decided to use a small skirmish force, 35 points each, and Leland was coached by DTB. I took up the challenge with a small force led by the Hierarch himself!  Since this was Leland's first time to try Warmachine/ Hordes, we decided not to use a scenario.  All out for the other person's caster!

The forces for today's skirmish!
Army list:  Gatormen, led by Leland.  In an effort to keep the game simple, we recommended he use Bloody Barnabas.  His feat is easy to use (knockdown all enemy models in Barnabas' control area), he's pretty solid if he gets into combat, fair fury score... Probably the best 'caster for a new player.
     Warcaster:  Bloody Barnabas
                        Blackhide Wrastler
                        Iron Back Spitter
                        Swamp Horror
                        Bull Snapper
                        Gatorman Posse
                        Croak Hunter
                        Totem Hunter

 Army list:  Protectorate of Menoth, controlled by moi, Kommissar Koala!  While keeping it simple  for Leland, I still wanted to keep things pretty similar to my lists for the tournament in October (I can't believe there are only three months to go!!) so I could still get some practice in.
     Warcaster:  Hierarch Severius
                        Indictor
                        Crusader
                        Blessing of Vengence
                        Choir of Menoth (minimum unit)
                        Idrian Skirmishers
                        Paladin of the Order of the Wall

As it is often easier to learn a game by reacting to a more veteran player, we decided I would take the first turn.

Setup:  Protectorate of Menoth

In my set up, I fell victim to one of the classic blunders... not checking on what kind of terrain everything on the table was.  I simply assumed that the terrain on my right flank was a hill... FOOLISH!!!!  It is clearly a rubble pit.  Clearly.  Sigh.  So, I recklessly decided to place the Blessing of Vengeance behind it.  Ugh.  Anyway, I then placed Severius in the center between the two heavy 'jacks.  The choir spread out to cover all of the 'jacks, and the Paladin went to the left side.


Setup:  Gatormen

The new theme force rules are out for the Blindwater Congregation, and Leland took full advantage of the army construction bonuses!  Gatormen Posse members go up to 8 damage boxes each (yikes!) and gain Snacking as well.  Snacking is such a good ability, I can't say enough how useful it is.  With some advice from myself and DTB, Leland placed the Posse in the very middle, and then used them to screen his beasts and 'caster.  The Totem Hunter went on the left flank, choosing the Paladin as his prey.

Advanced Deployment:  Protectorate of Menoth
The Idrians set up in the very middle, ready to try and combined ranged attack straight into the line of Gatormen growling across the field at us.

Advanced Deployment:  Gatormen
The Croak Hunter went on the right flank, just behind the forest.  With stealth and pathfinder, it was going to be hard to get close enough to shoot with the Idrians.

Our Story:

Rushing to try and reach the capital city of Imer before an army of Skorne besiege the city, Heirarch Severius has led a small interdiction skirting the marshes that surround Blindwater Lake in an attempt to find a faster route back to the Protectorate from Leryn.  The Gatormen, led by Bloody Barnabas, took umbridge at the interlopers to their lands, and have mobilized their own force to protect their boarders.   Just before battle was joined, a Totem Hunter appeared suddenly out of the trees and approached Barnabas.  Raising one clawed hand towards the waiting Paladin, the Hunter rasped, "That one... it is mine."  Barnabas looked for a moment at the Paladin before nodding his agreement, ordering his troops to stay out of the mysterious hunter's way.

Round One:  Protectorate of Menoth
     To start, the Idrians ran forward to get into a good firing position for the next turn.  As I said before, PoM is S.L.O.W.  Therefore, they always "Must to Run" on the first turn, and this game was no exception!  The Indictor, Crusader and Blessing of Vengeance used their power up focus to run forward.  Now, here was my first huge mistake of the game.  Realizing that the terrain was actually rough terrain, I decided to have the Blessing of Vengeance swing wide to the right to go around it instead of moving left or simply slowly going straight over it.  Facepalm!  In doing so, I moved him outside of Sevy's control range, so he was unable to arc the spells I needed onto their targets.  No!  Oh well, all I could do was prepare to make it up next turn.  The choir prayed for passage on the other two jacks (of course, the Blessing was also outside of their range, too).  The Paladin moved forward keeping to the right hand edge of the forest and adopted his Stone and Mortar stance to gain +5 ARM.  Finally Severius moved forward and kept all his focus, since he was out of range to give his spells to the people that needed him.....D'oh!

Round One:  Gatormen
     The posse ran forward straight towards the Idrian firing line, staying on the front edge of the hill.  The Totem Hunter ran straight down the left hand flank, setting his sights on his prey.  The Ironback and the Swamp Horror riled and ran, and the Blackhide also ran.  The snapper ran behind the forest, eyeballing a few juicy Idrians who might face a charge next turn.  Barnabas advanced and placed Death March on the Posse and Warpath on himself.  Finally, the Croak Hunter advanced into the forest and hucked a spear at the farthest right Idrian.  Death would come on a seven.... but the dice came up a 4!  Oh no!

Round Two:  Protectorate of Menoth
     Alright!  Time to make up for the mistakes of the first turn.  Power up and focus allocation, the Crusader and the Indictor both recieved one to make use of Sevy's Orracular Ability.  The Blessing ... gets NOTHING!!!  That's what he gets for moving out of the control area!  The Idrians moved forward and made two combined ranged attacks at the Posse, and one two man shot at the Croak Hunter, which killed it .  Death March gave them Vengeance, which is a huge pain in the backside, but I felt taking the shots was important... Two shots, one dead gatorman (which is amazing with their 8 boxes of damage) and one more down half it's life.

Take aim!

 The Blessing of Vengeance moved back into the control area, hopefully to finally be useful next turn.  The Crusader and the Indictor used one focus each to run forward, and the Choir followed and continued to pray for Passage.  The Paladin continued his slow advance along the tree line, continuing his Stone and Mortar stance.  To finish, Sevy came up straight behind the Indictor and unleashed his FEAT!!!!  d3+2 living warrior models suffer a POW 12 magic blast.  I rolled a four, which means all four of the remaining Gatormen were hit!  If only they didn't have 8 boxes instead of 5!  4 damage, 4 damage resulting in a death, but the dang gator was tough, so he was just knocked down, 4 damage and 2.... a fair result, but no death, so none of the exploded into a giant cloud.

Round Two:  Gatormen

     Barnabas pulled all the fury off his beasts, and upkept Death March and Warpath.  Then it was Vengeance time for the Gators.  They moved forward into the Idrians, killed two, and with snacking, healed most of the damage that the feat had done.  Then, normal activation time!  The Posse that hadn't made contact with the Idrians due to Vengeance moved forward, and the feast began!  The leader prayed for Offerings to Kosk, which would give them re-rolls on missed attack rolls... Yeesh!  Boom!  Six Idrians found themselves sliding down the gullets of some gators, continuing to heal any headway I had made in feating on them.  The Bull Snapper walked into the forest into two Idrians.  He easily ate one, but then due to Torpor, immediately fell asleep, next to the other Idrian who was too scared to move! 

Idrians face off against a Bull Snapper

Barnabas moved onto the hill next to the Ironback Spitter and put Rage onto the Swamp Horror.  The Spitter aimed at the Paladin and spit a glob of acid at him, hitting him squarely and dealing 3 damage to him, and melting the choirboy standing next to him into a steaming puddle of sludge.  The Swamp Horror then looked hungrily at the Crusader and CHARGED IT!!!  And here was my SECOND HUGE MISTAKE of the game.  The charged bite attack did a fair amount of damage, but it was the three tentacle slaps that really put the hurt on!  And did I use the focus he was holding on to for Orracular Vision?  The focus that could just discount one of the damage rolls?  NO I DID NOT!!!  UGH!  Things may have turned out completely differently if I could have remember this small, vitally important detail... Usually the Crusader is sturdy enough to not worry so much about the tentacle attacks, but with Rage, they did a LOT of damage.  SLAP SLAP SLAP!  Three extra bites, and the Crusader was just another wreck sinking into the bog.

Swampy Vs. Crusader

Finally, the Totem Hunter made his move.  A full move, that is, followed by a jump, straight into combat with the Paladin.  Now, normally the +5 ARM would make such an attack nothing to worry about, but with three damage already on him and a +2 to attack rolls due to Prey, the Paladin succumbed to the martial prowess of the Totem Hunter, who quickly reached down to yank off a trophy before sprinting straight into Severius' back arc, and moving his prey from the dead Paladin to Sevy himself! Wow, is that a bad place for a Totem Hunter to be!  Severius is one of the casters who is NOT supposed to be in combat.  When he has to think about casting Creator's Wrath on himself, you know you're in trouble.  Not really seeing anyway out of this incredibly bad situation, I sadly decided to forfeit the game and leave the field with dignity intact.

Conclusion:
     Gatorman Victory!!!  The Totem Hunter reached out and grabbed Severius by the pauldrun with a clawed hand.  Drawing him close, he rasped, "This battle is over.  You are not my prey today.  Go!  And do not return."  Severius took a moment to assess his options before nodding in agreement.  As the Totem Hunter faded back into the forest from whence he came, Severius signaled his troops to pull back, preparing to find a new pathway to Imer that didn't cross Barnabas' territory.

I believe this is ... "checkmate"?

Great game!  It's always fun to play against new players that are enjoying the experience.  I really love the Gatormen and I'm looking forward to exploring more about the new theme list.  And though I am a Commissar, and therefore despise having to forfeit a game, sometimes a stratgic retreat is nothing to be ashamed of!  Thanks for the game, Leland!  I hope to see you across the table next month!  Our next meeting is July 16 for anyone who wishes to get a game going!  Everyone is welcome!

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!!!