The Necro and the Serpent
As you may remember last month my purchases were two ranged beasts which could serve as possible Cojo replacements as I hadn't been having much luck with him.
I only managed to get a single game in with Marcus and his new toys but the funny thing is I still took Cojo.
I apologise that this will be a brief battle report as this game was very interesting for me but I have left it way too long to write.
Still "brief" for me is still usually pretty extensive.
Boom Boom Boom
Again playing regular opponent @forestreveries this time he decided to bust out the kung fu master (definitely worse than Mei Feng) Misaki.
His crew from memory was:
- Misaki
- Shang
- Kang
- Taelor
- Tannen
- Yamaziko
I had:
- Marcus
- Rogue Necromancy
- Dawn Serpent
- Sabertooth Cerberus
- Myranda
- Cojo
Strategy was Turf War and this is where I could see Cojo pulling his weight, with his Rude Sign Language hopefully being able to push the enemy out of scoring and also if I can get either of his push triggers off of his melee attacks that will also help.
Rogue Necro and Dawn Serpent end up being a pretty tasty combination as laying down some blasts into the centre is quite helpful.
It puts the opponent in a sort of catch 22 where they want to stay out of the centre to avoid an explosive death but also need to be in the centre to gain victory points.
Unable to really give you a play by play, I will tell you some of the highlights of the game.
This is my Rogue Necro proxy, originally painted by @Private_Painter
To start, turn 1 the Rogue Necromancy dished out 9 wounds due to blast damage, threatening the same twice for turn 2 thanks to Alpha.
On top of Alpha allowing the Rogue to actually get to shoot twice in a single turn, the Darzee's Chaunt action makes for some craziness which helps hugely when shooting into terrain.
Double negative on defense is pretty irrelevant in the first turn, but the positive attack and damage, combined with Three Headed and also Focus because there is no need to move.
The Dawn Serpent is rather nippy, 8" shooting isn't fantastic but it also is not a pushover in combat.
The combination of Hard to Kill and Call unto the Chi can keep the Serpent sticking around, then add Myranda's healing or Alpha to (0) again the Dawn Serpent will not die.
Call unto the Chi also I discovered in the game heals 1 damage for each model, not friendly model, with a Ca action with 6".
Nearly the entire Marcus crew has Ca actions, but adding the enemy to this, it's a pretty big heal for a (0).
I'd show my Dawn Serpent proxy, but the new plastic is out very soon.
During turn 2 with Misaki and friends creeping onto the turf slowly to avoid blast I decided to actually Alpha Cojo much to Aaron's surprise, pushing easily enough models out the way to deny VPs but also push some into terrain.
Turn 3 followed this up with a charge against the Kung Fu Grandma Yamaziko who took a Rampage attack to the face, with the Pound Chest and Howl trigger she was pushed 6" away with Cojo following up into a pile of enemies who had previously been pushed from his rude gestures and well, Cojo did it again keeping the enemy from getting to the centre again.
Shang wasn't particularly fantastic in this game but he did a good job of keeping Misaki alive in the middle of the Turf and holding up a lot of my guys with Misdirection.
Admittedly, I had a brain fart and forgot that I can discard 2 cards to still hit Misaki (I was told).
Eventually Misaki was assassinated, Marcus with his hare-like speed easily got Entourage and I denied Bodyguard by the Cerberus (formerly Myranda) slaughtering the granny.
The early push plays by Cojo swung the game in my favour early, though I did almost throw it away to Misaki due to my brain fart.
The two new additions both are costly, but they are both quite hard. Def4 on the Necro did mean he eventually died but he can avoid getting involved a little better than others plus I do have some options to heal him.
The fact that also I had potential to kill 3 models in the second turn of the game with shooting also shows some potential power that is quite exciting.
Hobby
Painting for Marcus and friends and been a little held up during Month 3 as I had my very first tournament to attend Canterfaux and as it was fixed Master I felt I better try and get as much stuff painted for Mei Feng as I can.
Still, where am I?
Well if I stop trying to be a perfectionist (in other words ignore the tiny things I could change) I have finished:
- Myranda
- Jackalope
- Cojo
- Sabertooth Cerberus
- Razorspine Rattler
- 3 Metal Gamin
These are now all based with the only things I really want to add is a touch up on Myranda's white bits, some blood effect on the Jackalope and that bloody tie for Cojo (this will happen).
Also I want to do some glowy flame effects on the Metal Gamin vents to give them that little extra they need.
Month 3's purchases saw me find a proxy for the Rogue Necromancy as I'm not that keen on the current Wyrd model.
I went for an old Rackham Confrontation model the Cerberus of Acheron, it's less hodge podge than the Rogue Necromancy but it is a three headed undead dog and I like it.
This I bought second hand I admit it was already painted by @private_painter and though I will repaint it in the future, it's been done nicely and really just needs to be rebased.
I was intended to paint my Dawn Serpent Proxy but with the plastic out at the end of May, that will hit the painting table as soon as it can.
Heading into Month 4
Knowing I have $36 to spend, I am able to have access to a few options.
At this stage I feel one of the best things I can do is look at what Strategies I feel my current selection can do and what it may need help in.
The crew has the speed and staying power to hold the centre between big monsters and the tough little gits the Metal Gamin I can easily score VPs from this.
As discussed already, Cojo is great for denying the enemy points here as well as the deterrent of monsters and explosions.
Reconnoiter
Speed here is again fairly useful but what my crew can lack is model count. In 50ss I could field something like:
- Marcus
- Myranda
- Dawn Serpent
- Sabertooth Cerberus
- 3 Metal Gamin
Maybe even the RSR over a Gamin.
Now where as the first 4 things can easily get into different quarters and cause havoc while the metal gamin hold down 1 or 2, it's trying to deny the enemy which may be difficult.
This is where Molemen and Night Terrors come into consideration, Silurids maybe too but they are a fair few points.
Squatter's Rights
Similar tactics come into play here from Turf War, Cojo's pushes are decent but his 3" melee is even nicer in standard Squatter's.
Also the Cerberus and leaping comes into it's own here, which may be an indication to take Silurids.
I don't feel I have an issue with this strategy yet.
Reckoning
Kill stuff? Seems fairly easy.
Glass cannons like the Cerberus can be an issue as they can kill stuff but also die easy, however as a popular strategy is to take a small elite crew the cat actually comes into it's own.
Dawn Serpent is probably quite good here too as it can hold on with Hard to Kill and heals.
Stake a Claim
Lastly the joker strategy.
I can see my crew not working out well here, the Sabertooth is great as anything with Leap can still then place a Claim marker.
Marcus himself is also decent with Wk8 and 2AP left to place markers.
Molemen become a consideration again as their 8" towards scheme markers can help them have turns where they zip up and stake a claim.
Next Volume
Volume 11 I will continue this look into what my current collection can do with a look at the schemes.
With the information gathered from any games I have between now and then and the analysis on strategies and schemes I shall have made a decision what to spend my Month 4 budget on.
Outside of budget I grabbed myself a model which I may use as an alternate Marcus or even the avatar.
Love this mini as reminds me of a certain character from a certain card game.
Grabbed Rayona, the big lion dude from here at Element, he's quite tall and hopefully I'll have him built (maybe painted) alongside my finished Marcus in volume 11.
- Ben Sime (@Psientologist)
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