Tuesday 8 December 2015

Mitsuharu on Minis - Saeryn and Rhyas, Talons of Everblight vs Ravyn, the Eternal Light

Welcome back for my latest battle report! This week I'm continuing with my test games with Saeryn and Rhyas. These guys are pretty fun to play but they are a bit of a headache on the table and it is a lot of maths. I haven't changed the list up as I want to hone my gameplay with them first. If you missed it that list is:

eTwins +2
-Zuriel -10
-Nephilim Protector -5
-Seraph -8
-Naga -5
-Shredder -2
Max Spawning Vessel -3
Max Raptors -10
Max Croak Raiders -8
Objective - Bunker

This list, as I've said, is the one used by Trevor in the latest chain attack and I haven't changed it up at all from there. I'm not convinced it's a great list and it still feels like it lacks punch but I'm still playing on. 

Pre-Game

My opponent for this week was Rik, who I've played several of my battle reports against in the past, using his Retribution. His list consisted of Rayvn with a Banshee along with Elara with a Hyperion, a max unit of Riflemen with UA and a housegaurd thane, a unit of Stormfall archers, two assassins, Narn and Nayl, an arcanist, and two Magisters. I wasn't very happy seeing a colossal across the table since I already felt I lacked punch in the list but I'd have to make do. The scenario I rolled up was Fire Support and I got the initiative, taking the first turn. Just a warning in advance I totally spaced out during this game and only remembered to take photos at the end of my own turns! So sorry about that. Hopefully I can describe it well enough to make up for it!

Deployment 

I deployed first with my Spawning Vessel centrally flanked by the twins. The protector, Naga and Seraph deployed to my right with Rhyas while the shredder, Zuriel and the raptors deployed on my left along with Saeryn. Rik placed his Hyperion in the middle of the board screening Elara, the arcanist and Ravyn. The banshee just off to the side of it. The Riflemen deployed to my right while the Stormfall archers went on my left. I then advance deployed my croaks on my right flank and Rik put his assassins out on the diagonally opposite edge. 


Legion Turn One 

On my first turn I had pretty much everything run forward to take board presence, putting out Occultation on the Croaks and Banishing ward on the twins, spamming out some Tenacities on the croaks and Raptors. The Naga got into the forest to trigger his prowl and the croaks and raptors spread out.

Legion: 0 Ret: 0


Retribution Turn One

The retribution turn was very similar with everything running up the board. The riflemen spread themselves out to get positioned for next turn. The assassins ran behind the obstruction to get some cover and the jacks ran themselves up the board. Ravyn, meanwhile, put snipe on the Archers. 

Legion: 0 Retribution: 0

Legion Turn Two

With my turn I was able to start killing some angry elves. The frogs hopped up (get it?) and threw some darts at the riflemen, but their to hit rolls were decidedly mediocre and missed most of the shots, thoroughly murdering the ones they did manage to tag, though. On the other flank the raptors moved up and killed Nayl and a Stormfall archer as well as missing a bunch of shots on the assorted assassins before light cav-ing back again. The Naga and Seraph shifted around in the forest, staying out of the way. The pot continued up the board to be a collection tool. The twins threw out tenacities on the croaks and Rhyas advanced up to the nearby wall. The protector dropped safeguard on Rhyas to round out my turn. 

Legion: 0 Ret: 0


Retribution Turn Two

The retaliation came pretty hard as Ravyn sniped the Hyperion and feated. The riflemen, who got firing solution from the Thane, then fired a bunch of shots into the croaks, killing the 4 they hit. The Magisters managed to take out one more, forcing a command check which they promptly failed. The Hyperion then fired on one of the pot attendants that I'd left clumped together and next to Saeryn. The blast killed 5 pot attendants and (with a boost) did 5 damage to Saeryn which I transferred to Zuriel. He then took his other shots against Zuriel and the protector, but missed stealthy Zuriel and only did a few points to the other Nephelim. On my left flank between the Stormfall archers and the assassins charging in 4 of my raptors died, the Banshee taking out the last one to remove the unit from the table. 

Legion: 0 Ret: 0

Legion Turn Three

That hurt! The croaks pulled back a little and then passed their second command check, getting back into the game a little late. The Naga aimed at of the Magisters but got snake eyes to hit. The Seraph pulled back, getting away from the approaching riflemen. Zuriel charged the nearby banshee but only got middling dice and so did a poor job of removing its high ARM value. The pot spawned a harrier and it animused and charged, killing an assassin. Rhyas pulled back slightly to get a marginally better position behind the wall. The rest of my models in the centre tried to spread out a little. The protector put safeguard up again on Rhyas. 

Legion: 0 Ret: 0


Retribution Turn Three

On the retribution turn the attrition game was clearly going in the angry elves' favour. The riflemen moved up again and, with the Thane, killed another pair of croaks. Hyperion took its big cannon shot on Rhyas and missed, the boosted blast rolling low again but I still decided to transfer anyway, putting it into the Seraph. His other shots didn't do a whole lot of damage anywhere. The Banshee took its return attacks on Zuriel, cranking the initial damage roll to halve his health but came up short with the other attacks. Then the combined assassins came in to take him out but couldn't quite close the deal, leaving him at the end of the turn with only a couple of boxes but alive. The stormfalls continued up the board but essentially didn't have any targets this turn. Elara, Ravyn and the arcanist moved up behind the Hyperion. 

Legion: 0 Ret: 0

I actually got a photo this turn!

 
Legion Turn Four

At this point things were looking bleak but I still had a chance since Ravyn had moved up. I did some control area maths and I felt it looked a little short. Then I had an idea. I started the turn by having the protector move up and make a push, winning (barely) to get her an extra inch forward. The seraph then moved up, using slipstream to place her another 2", butting me about 11.5" away. Perfect. The twins activated and Rhyas charged Ravyn, Saeryn moved up near the Hyperion, keeping her in formation. I boosted the initial, doing a bunch on damage on the charge. I bought and boosted a second, only doing a bit more damage, leaving her with 5 boxes. I bought the last attack and boosted again, getting the critical decaptitation which pushed my ok damage roll into being more than enough to finish her off and win me the game!

Legion Assassination Win


Post-Game

This was a fun game, even when getting my whole army murdered by shooty elves. I'm still enjoying the twins but I think if I keep playing them I'm going to change up the list. It feels really pillow-fisted as is. I might consider dropping the Naga for the Blackfrost Shard and maybe swap out the Raptors for something more powerful or maybe harder to shift. I still wouldn't want to play these guys on a clock though, there's way too much maths and too many options of what to do with them! They are still pretty fun and definitely a very different gameplay style. I wouldn't recommend them for a serious competitive event but for funsies these two are a good pick. 

As always thanks for reading, and don't forget to check out the Facebook page and 'like' for regular post updates, photos and more at www.facebook.com/Mitsuharuonminis 

-M

No comments:

Post a Comment