This report was written by Bernd.
Björn (Legion)
Facing the guns of Cygnar was a new experience, as it was the first time playing against a that much shooting-oriented army. Tactical deploy was to divide the army into a main group around Thagrosh, featuring the Carnivean, two Shredders and the Forsaken and a wing group containing the Angelius, another two Shredders and the Shepherd for controlling their fury. The plan to get to the own flag as fast as possible was abandoned because of the approaching firepower, so everyone went into the woods. This could have turned out as a wrong decision because Cygnar got points for the Legion flag early, but at the end it did not matter at all. Three of the Shredders were quickly eliminated and as Cygnars feat round did not turn out very well, it looked like Cygnar had to admit defeat soon. After the Angelius and the Carnivean showed their abilities in melee, Legion gained control of the battlefield, but Cygnar was still leading in control points for the flags. It was one of the longest 25-point games played yet and a very close one. The final decision came with the negation of the Stormcallers commitment, as he tried to block the forces of Legion and that paved the way for blight right into Nemos face.
Matthias (Cygnar)
Mmmh... I did not manage to achieve anything in this game. I only managed to kill some Shredders, the CPs were more granted by Björn than earned...
My Feat turn was planned really clever in my mind (believe me!), but did not translate into the game as planned... in the end it was wasted.
The next turns I also was not able to deal any major damage nor collect enough CPs. Just killing Shredders does not win you a game.
Björn on the other hand systematically wrecked my battlegroup - this is a winning strategy :-)
Bernd (Photographer and Author)
Army composition
Björn
Björn just used all the models that he has. With his Carnivean and his Angelius his army can deal a lot of damage in close combat and his caster can buff the damage output with the Draconic blessing spell. Even the Shredders can deal considerable damage.
His army has also some shooting options. And last but not least the Carnivean is also quite resiliant with Spiny Growth and the -2 Str debuff from Thargrosh. His army was well balanced in my opinion.
But the downside of having a lot of beasts is that he is very dependant on the Forsaken and the Sheperd to manage his Fury - a fact that a cunning opponent can exploit.
In the future, especially for larger games, another Sheperd might be a good idea to mitigate the danger.
Matthias
Matthias used a heavy shooting army, but he also used nearly all models that are available for him. Still, he has an Ironclad to his disposal and I think he should have used it because his army was desperately lacking in the close combat department - a fact that was proven in the later turns where he was not able to deal any significant damage to Björn.
A great addition to his army in the future would be the Centurion in my opinion. He brings his own Polarity Field and buffed with Fail Safe he is at ARM 23, can't be charged and does not suffer from crippled systems and thus does not lose his extra armour from his Shield. Björn would have had a hard time to kill this 'jack and that would have given Matthias more time to use his shooty models.
Strategy
Björn
Björn deployed his army together but then in the later turns he split the army in two parts. I think this was a risky manoever because if the Sheperd would have been killed his Angelius would have been useless.
A slight mistake on Björns part was that he did not deny his own flag on his second turn and Matthias was able to get 2 Victory Points for free.
Apart from that he made a very good game and managed to keep his models as safe as possible.
Matthias
Matthias played rather agressive. This gave him an early lead in Victory Points but also allowed Björn to get into melee fast.
I think it would have been better to stay further back and have one or two more turns of shooting. Björn would have had no option but to move towards Matthias army because Matthias had the better range on some of his weapons.
Matthias could also have exploited the fact that Björns army was split: He could have denied his left flank for example by not advancing towards Björn, but by shifting his forces to his right flank. Then Björns right flank would have been more or less useless and his left flank would have had to fight against a big part of Matthias army.
After Action Report
After Action Report
After Action Report
After Action Report
After Action Report
New Miniature(s) Painted
New Miniature(s) Painted
New Miniature(s) Painted
New Miniature(s) Painted
New Miniature(s) Painted