"Flanks For The Memories" - Warmachine Batrep November 27, 2021: Cryx vs Protectorate

We had a quiet Saturday evening at home right after Thanksgiving and took advantage of it by getting a play in of Wraith Witch Deneghra vs Grand Scrutator Severius. It was one of the first few games where Donna got to add the Deliverer Arms Master in to her Protectorate list and I was working a tag team of Cryx solos finding new ways to deploy / use Darragh Wrathe & the Hellslinger Phantom.

Note this play was before we got our new gaming mats. So, the pics of the table in game reflect that compared to some of our newer plays that were featured in my previous batrep posted this month.

Scenario & Terrain

We rolled a d6 to choose the scenario & played Brawlmachine Scenario 2: Binary. Two circular zones are offset in the center of the battlefield a few inches away from each other and each of them slightly off center towards each army's deployment zone. Each zone has a flag centered on it from left to right and a few inches closer to the opposite deployment zone..

For our terrain layout, we used a random terrain generator. A building (obstruction) was centered from left to right on the battlefield and located between the Protectorate deployment zone & the right circular zone. About 6" to the right of it was a forest.

Another forest was centered in the battlefield from both left to right and between both army's deployment edges. It overlapped the right zone slightly. A few inches to the left of it and slightly closer to the Protectorate side was a stone tower (obstruction) that just clipped the edge of the left zone. About 8" to the right of the central forest and on the edge of the right zone was a rubble pile (1/2 obstacle, 1/2 obstruction).

On the opposite side of the left zone was a stone wall (obstacle) that was closer to the Cryx deployment zone. About 15" across from it was another stone wall and between the 2 of them, slightly offset closer to the Cryx edge, was a large boulder (obstruction).

Lists & Deployment

I won the starting roll & chose to go first. Usually when I'm facing her Sunburst and its 20" threat range, I prefer going second. As I mentioned in previous blogs, when she's 2nd player and my army moves forward on turn 1, her Sunburst tears up my front line troops on her first turn. In this case, I'd hoped that I had deployed my Mechanithrall unit far enough away from the Sunburst that the terrain in the center of the battlefield would protect me.

I also wanted to try running only light jacks with my arc nodes spread out a bit. The idea was that the points I'd save from not using my Slayer would allow me to use some more combat-heavy solos along with 2 units; 1 combat & 1 support.

Cryx (Me) - No theme: Wraith Witch Deneghra with a Stalker, Defiler, & Ripjaw, Darragh Wrathe, Hellslinger Phantom, Soul Trapper, Necrosurgeon & Stitch Thralls, and a min unit of Mechanithralls with the Skarlock Commander command attachment.

Protectorate of Menoth (Donna) - No theme: Grand Scrutator Severius with an Indictor, Revenger, & Vigilant, Deliverer Arms Master, Exemplar Warder Elias Gade, Sunburst Deliverer Crew, and a full unit of Exemplar Bastions.

Cryx deployed in an open, spread out fashion; not really a formation of any type, but covered all advancement options across the battlefield. Deneghra was in the center with the Necrosurgeon's unit about 4" to her left and the Soul Trapper about 5" to her right.

Darragh Wrathe & the Ripjaw were together a few inches to the left of the Necrosurgeon. The Defiler & Hellslinger Phantom were together and a few inches to the right of Soul Trapper. 

The Skarlock Commander advanced deployed his Mechanithralls in a line formation in front of the Darragh Wrathe / Ripjaw combo and slightly offset towards the left side of the battlefield. The Stalker advanced deployed in front of Hellslinger Phantom.

Protectorate deployed in 2 separate line formations on either side of the battlefield. The left formation included the Exemplar Bastions, Vigilant, & Indictor.

The right formation was the Revenger, Severius, the Sunburst Crew, & the Deliverer Arms Master.

Elias Gade was advanced deployed in front of the Vigilant a few inches short of the Protectorate-side flag. The Mechanithrall unit was named his initial Prey target.

* Severius preparing his warjacks & troops for battle *

Cryx Turn 1

Digging a soiled boot into the side of his steed, Darragh rode forward, keeping both units in his command range. He used his special action "Death Ride" to grant both the Skarlock Commander's Mechanithrall unit & the Necrosurgeon's Stitch Thrall unit an additional +1" of movement for 1 round. Soul Trapper then ran up to go B2B with the flag nearest to the Cryx.

Hellslinger Phantom ran past the Stalker to stop just beyond the stone wall on the right. The Defiler followed suit; running up to stop just behind the same stone wall. The Ripjaw then ran up past the stone wall on the left to stop just inside the zone.

Next, the Stalker ran up to the rubble pile, as the Necrosurgeon moved up behind the stone wall the Ripjaw was near. She sent her Stitch Thralls forward spreading them out to either side of her. In turn, the Skarlock Commander issued the "Press Forward" order to run into the left zone with his Mechanithralls surrounding him. Even with the stone tower & forest giving them some protection from the Sunburst, he kept that cursed ballista in mind; having his thralls spread out to lessen the potential damage if they were targeted. 

With her army advanced and in position awaiting the Protectorate faithful, Deneghra ran forward to rest behind the central forest. From there, she felt protected while in good position to lead her troops in the name of the Dragonfather.

* Deneghra & her unholy minions setting the stage for the carnage to come *

Protectorate Turn 1

The Deliverer Arms Master walked into the forest in front of him & gave "Artillerist" to the Sunburst Crew (+2 RAT & can reroll direction and / or distance if the next shot misses & deviates). 

Revenger ran to establish a presence deep inside the right zone & position itself to serve as an arc node if needed. Indictor & Vigilant each ran up to either side of Elias Gade. Gade then walked up B2B with the flag and raised his dual crossbows with the Mechanithralls in his sights.

* Deliver Arms Master taking up position in the forest *

The first arrow shot killed the Mechanithrall in the center of their formation. A humble Stitch Thrall a few inches away collected the corpse for his master. The second arrow again found its mark, piercing the chest of the lead Mechanithrall. As his body slumped to the ground, the same Stitch Thrall collected yet another corpse for the Necrosurgeon.

Out of range of any of Deneghra's vile horrors, the Exemplar Bastions chose to run forward. As their leader issued the "Press Forward" order, the unit raced to close the distance with the Mechanithralls from the left flank.

The Sunburst Deliverer Crew rolled their fiery ballista forward & let off a volley towards the Stalker. Knowing the bone jack was protected by Stealth, they hoped the 4" AOE would deviate to at least catch him in the blast a bit. The shot auto-missed and deviated 5" to the right. Rerolling the distance with Artillerist resulted in another 5", as the blast stirred up dirt & rocks, but nothing else.

Wanting to avoid the Stalker's long reach and Bounding Leap ability, Severius chose to move behind the building. From the safety granted there, he cast "Vision" (ignore 1 damage roll, then Vision expires) on the Revenger and awaited Deneghra's next move.

* With Protectorate 'Jacks by his side, Gade moves into position to attack *

Cryx Turn 2

Deneghra allocated 2 focus to the Stalker & 1 to the Defiler. The Ripjaw was outside of charge range for any targets. So, she opted not to give it any additional focus.

The Necrosurgeon moved up beside the Skarlock Commander with her Stitch Thralls all moving forward, but still spread out to either side of her. Once settled into her new position inside the zone, she used her "Resurrectionist" special action; spending 2 corpses to reanimate new Mechanithralls.

Next, the Stalker moved up close to the Revenger, being mindful to stay outside of its 2" melee range. From there, it spent 1 focus to activate its "Bounding Leap" ability to jump 5" and land behind the Revenger. With the back strike bonus, the first Eviscerator claw attack easily found its mark. Not wanting to suffer the damage, the Revenger allowed "Vision" to ward off the damage roll & the spell expired.

The second Eviscerator then stuck into the back of the Protectorate warjack. At dice -5, the Stalker boosted & the attack did 8 damage to column 6. Spending its last focus to buy another attack, it only managed to do 1 additional damage to column 4.

* Stalker stabbing its Eviscerators into the Revenger's back *

As the Defiler began its activation, it cursed in an indecipherable growl. The Defiler realized what the Stalker had not: the Stalker activating first put it in danger of the Defiler's Sludge Cannon spray. Wanting to keep the Stalker out of the vile spray, the Defiler walked up short of the position it originally wanted, but close enough to catch the Revenger.

Boosting to hit, the nozzle unleashed a caustic blast onto the light Protectorate warjack. Boosting for damage at dice -9, the Revenger was hit for 5 damage to column 6 & now suffering from continuous corrosion. The Revenger's left arm was crippled in the attack; taking out its Shield.

Continuing the bullying of Severius' arc node, the Hellslinger Phantom moved up just outside of the right zone and raised his Wraithstorm Pistols to fire off 2 "Incendiary" shots. Both shots caught the warjack in the chest, lighting it on fire, but only the 2nd managed to crack its armor to do 3 damage to column 5. Beaten down, corroded, & now on fire...the Revenger stood defiantly in the face of Toruk's onslaught.

Soul Trapper stayed safely behind the frontline; cowardly hiding next to the near-side flag.

Skarlock Commander rallied his thralls to charge forward into the Protectorate line. Since the 2 newly-resurrected Mechanithralls had to forfeit their combat action, they chose to run up close enough to prevent a future charge from the Bastions & Indictor. Skarlock Commander & 3 other Mechanithralls charged the Vigilant, while the last charged the Indictor.

Unfortunately, the left-most thrall charging the Vigilant miscalculated his position. He ended up in the nearest Bastion's melee range; granting it a "Defensive Strike" that killed it outright. A Stitch Thrall collected his corpse.

All the charging Mechanithralls chose to use their special attack, "Steamfist: Combo Strike", in hopes of doing as much damage as possible to the heavily-armored Protectorate warjacks. Of the 2 attacking the Vigilant, only the 2nd was able to connect, but was unable to do any damage. The thrall attacking the Indictor also hit, but only managed to 2 damage to column 1. 

Skarlock Commander attempted to plunge his Fell Spear into the Vigilant, but fell just short of hitting, as the light 'jack deflected the attack. Cursing at the horrible luck his unit managed in their first attack, he accepted their fate as a mobile wall to slow the advancing Protectorate jacks until Darragh Wrathe & the Ripjaw were able to get into position to attack in the coming rounds.

* Skarlock Commander leading his thralls in a charge *

Darragh Wrathe moved up to get the lead Bastion in range of his spell, "Dark Fire". He successfully blasted the halberdier in flames for 9 damage. Using the unit's "Sanguine Bond" ability to spread the damage around & save their brother's life, each Bastion took 2 damage except for the one hit, who suffered 1 damage himself.

Unable to charge anyone due to the Mechanithralls blocking the way, Ripjaw moved up to get closer to the Vigilant. From there, Deneghra cast "Venom" channeled through the bone jack.

The spray perfectly split the gap between a Mechanithrall & Skarlock Commander so that neither was caught as the sludge blasted into the warjack. Unfortunately, boosting the damage roll wasn't enough do any damage; rolling a 10 on dice -11. The one saving grace was that the Vigilant was now suffering continuous corrosion. 

Moving a few inches to the left, Deneghra stayed safely behind the forest, but gained a better vantage point to use her feat, "Web of Shadow": d3 + 3 friendly Faction models currently in her control range gain Incorporeal for 1 round. Rolling a 1, she was able to give the ability to Stalker, Hellslinger Phantom, Ripjaw, & the Soul Trapper.

Protectorate Turn 2

The corrosion expired on the Revenger, but the fire remained and it took 1 damage to column 4 as a result. The corrosion on the Vigilant stayed and did 1 damage to column 1. Severius then allocated 2 focus to each of his jacks.

The Indictor activated & trampled over the Skarlock Commander & 3 Mechanithralls. One of the Mechanithralls trampled managed to survive, but the other 2 were killed along with the Skarlock Commander. The Stitch Thrall closest to them collected 2 corpses, as only the Skarlock Commander & 1 thrall died within range. The trample path allowed the Indictor to move just a hair outside of the melee range of the one Mechanithrall that would have been eligible for a free strike otherwise.

Taking advantage of its Banisher's magic damage, the Indictor spent its last focus to buy an attack on the Ripjaw who was now within range. The attack missed, but the Indictor stood proud knowing that it had won several key small victories with a single power attack.

Not only had it severely weakened the Mechanithrall unit & taken out their commander, but it was now sitting inside the left zone; stopping the Necrosurgeon's unit from scoring it. Additionally, it was also now engaging the Ripjaw; preventing it from channeling any more spells.

* Indictor trampling over the Skarlock Commander & his Mechanithralls *

Not worried about a free strike from a lowly Mechanithrall, Vigilant turned to charge the other Mechanithrall that had previously run up towards the Bastions. The thrall's Steam Fist found its mark, but only did 3 damage to column 4. Running forward with caustic sludge dripping from its armor, the Vigilant slammed its right Shield Fist into the Mechanithrall's face; obliterating him instantly.

With only 2 Mechanithralls left in the fray, Gade steadied to aim and fired a crossbow shot at each of them. Both were destroyed as the arrows plunged into their loathsome skulls. Now that the last of the thralls were taken out, Cryx no longer had any models close enough to contest the Protectorate flag. Gade then named the Ripjaw as his new Prey.

The Exemplar Bastion leader rallied his troops to rush to the left zone. One was in range to charge Darragh. He hit the mounted necromancer for 3 damage. The rest had to settle for running up to get close enough to prevent charges from the Cryx underlings inside the zone.

The Arms Master walked out of the forest towards the Stalker & granted "Artillerist" once again to the Sunburst Crew. The Gunner then moved his unit to toe-in the right zone and fire at the Stitch Thrall next to the forest & a few inches from Deneghra. The hope being that even if it missed, it might deviate to catch the Wraith Witch in the blast. The shot hit the thrall dead on and killed him, but Deneghra was just outside of the blast radius.

At this point, Severius realized he'd wasted the extra focus on the Revenger. Since the Stalker was Incorporeal & the Revenger lacked magical weapons, it was left with its only offensive option be to charge the Defiler...and risk a free strike from the Stalker. Not wanting to gamble on what could be a death blow, it opted simply to turn so that the Stalker was no longer in its back arc.

Without the use of his arc node and too far away from any of Deneghra's troops to cast offensive spells, Severius moved up behind Gade & popped his feat, "Divine Might": for 1 round, enemy models in his control range cannot cast or channel spells & enemy warcasters / warlocks suffer -2 FOCUS / FURY. Even though he wasn't able to hit her with any offensive spells this turn, Severius took pleasure in knowing that he'd reduced his nemesis to FOCUS 5 and drastically hampered her abilities for the next round.

* Severius safely behind his Exemplar Warder unleashing "Divine Might" *

As his activation ended, each side score 1 point for the flags, as both zones were contested.


Cryx 1 - Protectorate 1

Cryx Turn 3

Deneghra replenished her focus, but only up to 5 due to the effects of Severius' feat. Worried that her warjacks would be out of her now-limited 10" control range, she was pleasantly surprised to see that all 3 were just barely inside of the restricted area. She allocated 2 focus each to the Stalker & Ripjaw and gave 1 extra to the Defiler. At the end of her control phase, she used her "Wraith Walker" ability to go Incorpreal for a round.

With the Mechanithrall unit wiped out, the Necrosurgeon had to shift strategy to protecting Deneghra and slowing down the advance of the Protectorate forces from her unit's left flank. She moved as close to Deneghra she could with her Stitch Thralls following close behind. They spread out again, but this time in an effort to block charge lanes to Deneghra & the Necrosurgeon from the Indictor & Bastions. As they moved, one thrall was destroyed by a Bastion's free strike.

Once she & her lone remaining thrall were settled in place near Deneghra, the Necrosurgeon used 2 of the corpses she had to resurrect a pair of Stitch Thralls. They were placed spaced out to reform a haphazard wall of protection in front of their master.

Ripjaw then lunged with its Bone Saw at the Indictor. Spending a single focus to boost both the attack & damage rolls due to its "Powerful Attack" ability, it hit, but only for a single damage to column 4. It spent its last 2 focus to buy another attack & boost again to do 5 damage to column 6.

* "Though he be but little, he is fierce" - Shakespeare describing Ripjaw *

Next, Defiler aimed at the battered Revenger and let loose another volley from its Sludge Cannon. The spray caught the jack's right side; doing 5 damage to column 6. Somehow, it stood to fight on, though its movement was now crippled.

Hellslinger Phantom took aim at one of the Sunburst Grunts, blasted him with an "Incendiary" shot from his Wraithstorm Pistol, & collected his soul. With his 2nd shot he destroyed the Sunburst Gunner to collect another soul. As the Gunner fell, the last Grunt left in the unit took command of the Sunburst to keep it in the fight.

Careful not to move so far as to risk a free strike, the Stalker moved just enough to get the Sunburst Gunner in melee range, while not moving out of the Revenger's melee range. With its first attack, the gangly bone jack hit & boosted the damage to easily pierce the Revenger's armor; finally putting it out of its misery. Turning its left Eviscerator onto the Sunburst, the Stalker boosted to hit & destroyed it; removing Severius' long range artillery threat from the battle.

Darragh then charged into the closest Bastion on the edge of the left zone.; risking "Defensive Strikes" from he & the halberdier beside him. Surprisingly, they both missed their counter attacks. Darragh's Necro-Scythe connected with the elite infantryman he charged, but his good fortune would be short lived however. He rolled three 1s on dice -3; doing no damage at all.  

With no focus to cast any spells, Deneghra chose to move up between 2 Stitch Thralls and the stone tower. Being Incorporeal, the only melee threats to her were the Indictor's Banisher & the Bastions Consecrated Halberds. So, she felt safe moving closer to the action while keeping the Necrosurgeon's lowly thralls between her & the most prominent danger. At least now, she was in better position to work around the tower to attack Severius directly in the coming rounds.

* With Darragh, Ripjaw, & Stitch Thralls protecting her,

Deneghra moves to flank Severius *

Each side scored their respective flags once again. Though the Necrosurgeon's unit was in the left zone, the Indictor & several Bastions were contesting it. The right zone only had the Stalker in it, who was unable to score it. 

Cryx 2 - Protectorate 2

Protectorate Turn 3

Vigilant took 1 damage to column 1, as the corrosion on it remained. Severius allocated 2 focus to the Indictor, but kept the rest on himself.

Deliverer Arms Master moved into the right zone & turned his attention to Hellslinger Phantom. Hurling his Fire Bomb as the Cryxian gunlsinger, he missed. The blast deviated 3" to the left & scorched the cobblestone, but didn't catch any models in the blaze.

Since his Prey was benefiting from +4 DEF due to being in melee, Gade decided to move off the flag and get a couple back strike shots at the Stalker. Needing a 5 to hit, Gade rolled 4 on both of his crossbow attacks & the Blessed arrows fell short of their target.

With his troops' ranged attacks failing miserably, Severius had his Bastions activate next in hopes of turning the tide. Too close to charge, they moved into position to maximize their attacks. The 3 furthest away moved to surround Darragh, while the 2 closest to the combat turned their Halberds towards Ripjaw. 

The 2 attacking Ripjaw both hit and at straight dice, did 12 damage to column 6 & 10 damage to column 4. The little bone jack fell to their blades, as they mercilessly tore through its armor. 

The first Bastion attacking Darragh drove his Consecrated Halberd into the undead mechanized warhorse & did 11 damage at dice -3. With his mount destroyed, Darragh dismounted just out of range of 1 of the Bastions who had planned to attack him. The third was still in range, however, and made quick work of removing the necromancer with a solid blow of 8 at dice -1. The nearest Stitch Thrall collected his corpse.

* Exemplar Bastions swarm Ripjaw & Darragh Wrathe *

Spending a focus, Indictor trampled the Stitch Thrall next to Deneghra; stomping him into the ground. At the end of the trample, the Indictor bought an attack with its Banisher since the magical sword could hurt her despite the warcaster being Incorporeal. Despite boosting to hit, the attack barely missed & Deneghra laughed in the heavy warjack's face. 

Having no targets in range, Vigilant spent its only focus to run behind the stone tower. If it couldn't inflict any damage of its own this round, it wanted to help stave off the Cryx who could potentially flank Severius next turn.

Severius moved up B2B with the flag that Gade had abandoned. From there, he cast "Defender's Ward" (+2 DEF, +2 ARM) on the Exemplar Bastions & cast "Vision" on Elias Gade.

Both flags were scored again to bring the score to 3 all.

Cryx 3 - Protectorate 3

Cryx Turn 4

Deneghra replenished her focus back to 7. Wraith Walker expired & she lost Incorporeal. She allocated 2 focus to the Stalker.

Hellslinger Phantom moved into the center of right zone & shot Vigilant; lighting it on fire with an "Incendiary" shot. Spending a soul to boost the damage, he only managed to do 2 to column 1. The second Wraithstorm Pistol shot connected as well. Again spending a soul to boost the damage, it did 7 damage to column 3.

Stalker activated next & charged the Vigilant. It made sure to end its charge with Gade also in melee range so the Exemplar Warder could not make ranged attacks next turn. The charge hit & did 2 damage to column 2. Missing its second Eviscerator attack on Vigilant, Stalker bought 2 more basic melee attacks, but only the second one hit. Unfortunately, the unboosted damage roll wasn't enough to crack armor. 

Because of her Parry advantage, Deneghra was able to walk around the stone tower without fear of a free strike from the Indictor. She made sure to move far enough away so that the Indictor's "Consecration" ability was out of range: while within 6" of this model, enemy models cannot cast or channel spells.

Once she had the Vigilant & Gade in her sights, she cast "Venom". The 8" spray hit the Vigilant, corroding it, but no damage was done. Gade managed to evade the corroded shot, as Deneghra chose to keep her last focus for protection instead of boosting to hit.

* Deneghra & Stalker trying in vain to destroy the Vigilant *

Not wanting risk a free strike from Indictor, the Necrosurgeon stayed on the edge of the zone. She spent 1 corpse to resurrect a Stitch Thrall that was placed an inch away from her.

Hoping to finally remove the Arms Master, Defiler moved into the right zone & turned to face him. It let loose a blast of sludge that just missed the Protectorate solo...and with that brought the end to a pathetic round of offense for Deneghra & her army.

Now that the Stalker was within 4" of Severius' flag, the only point scored to end the round was for Soul Trapper on the near-side flag.

Cryx 4 - Protectorate 3

Protectorate Turn 4

Neither the corrosion nor fire on Vigilant expired. The corrosion did 1 damage to column 5 & the fire did 4 more damage to column 6. This coupled with the earlier barrage finally managed to cripple Vigilant's left arm Shield Fist & its movement.

The Grand Scrutator paid to upkeep both "Defender's Ward" & "Vision". He then allocated 2 focus each to both of his remaining warjacks.

Hoping to put an end to this once & for all, Indictor activated, paid a focus, & trampled over the 2 Stitch Thralls standing between it & Deneghra. The first thrall was crushed under foot as the heavy jack stomped toward the Cryxian warcaster. The Necrosurgeon collected his corpse, as the second thrall managed to survive. The Necrosurgeon got a free strike, resolved after all the trample attack rolls, and managed to do 1 damage to column 4.

Now that it was in her back arc, the Indictor bought an attack with its Banisher against Deneghra. Boosting to hit, the blade slashed into her to do 10 damage at dice +3. The Wraith Witch spent her sole focus to reinforce her Power Field & ward off 5 of the damage.

* Indictor trampling over Stitch Thralls to get to Deneghra *

Elias Gade activated next & stabbed at his Prey with both Bayonets. Both attacks hit the Stalker with the first doing 7 damage to column 5, crippling its right arm Eviscerator, and the second doing 12 damage to column 1 to completely destroy the warjack. Gade's "Quick Work" ability allowed him to now take a ranged shot, which he launched at Deneghra, but unfortunately, the shot missed her completely. He named the Cryxian warcaster as his new Prey target.

Since the Stalker was no longer blocking its path, the Vigilant moved in to attack Deneghra as well. With flames pouring from its joints & acid dripping from its armor, Vigilant boosted to hit the first attack with its undamaged arm, yet it still missed.

Choosing not to boost the attack with its crippled arm, it missed automatically with no roll needed, as it would have needed a 9 on 1d6. Instead, it chose to use its last 2 focus to buy an attack with its good arm & boost to hit. It finally connected with her, as the Shield Fist slammed into the Wraith Witch, but only managed to do 1 damage.

The Exemplar Bastion leader gave the "Press Forward" order to rally 3 of his troops to charge the Necrosurgeon & her Stitch Thralls inside the zone. The 4th troop ran around the stone tower to engage Deneghra, ensuring that he stayed in formation.

The Bastions charging the Necrosurgeon & the Stitch Thrall nearest the forest destroyed their targets in savage ferocity. However, the 2 attacking the last Stitch Thrall somehow managed to miss & the little thrall let out a sigh of relief.

* Protectorate halberdiers charging the Necrosurgeon's unit *

Realizing that his offensive options were outweighed by the scoring possibilities unfolding, the Arms Master ran as close as he could to the Soul Trapper's flag to contest it. He ensured that he stayed outside of the Defiler's melee range as he advanced. The only point scored was for the flag Severius was camping on.

Cryx 4 - Protectorate 4

Cryx Turn 5

Deneghra used Wraith Walker to go Incorporeal again & kept all 7 focus on herself. 

Realizing that her chances were slim & getting slimmer by the minute, Deneghra readied her Eclipse & charged Severius. Being Incorporeal, she ran through the Vigilant and slashed at the elder Menite. As she made the attack, her Incorporeal state expired, but it wouldn't matter as this was her only chance for victory.

Boosting to hit, she would have done 6 damage, but Severius discarded 1 focus to stave off 5. She then bought & boosted another attack along with boosting the damage roll. Once again, she would have hit him for 6, but he spent his last focus to only take 1 damage. She spent her last 2 focus to buy another attack & boost to hit, but came up short; needing an 8, but rolling a 7. 

The Lawgiver's fortune shined down on the old man of Menoth that day. Despite her best efforts, the Wraith Witch could not kill the aging Protectorate warcaster.

* Severius standing in defiance of Deneghra's failed assassination attempt *

Hoping to accomplish what his leader could not, Hellslinger Phantom moved to get Severius within range of his Wraithstorm Pistols. Doing so meant that he entered the melee range of one of the Bastions, who got a "Defensive Strike" attack that...fortunately for Hellslinger, just barely missed. 

Because his Gunslinger advantage allowed him to make ranged attacks while in melee, Hellslinger attempted an "Incendiary" shot on Severius. He hit, lighting Severius on fire, & did 6 damage. The undead gunman took another shot that also hit, but only did 3 more damage. With the torrent of pain unleashed on him, the Protectorate warcaster was still standing with only 6 health boxes left.

Defiler turned to shoot at the Arms Master. Boosting to hit, the Arms Master was suffering corrosion, but the damage roll only hit him for 4; leaving him still alive with a single box unmarked.

With neither zone scored & only the Protectorate flag being uncontested of the two, Severius gained another point to take the lead.

Cryx 4 - Protectorate 5

Protectorate Turn 5

The fire on Severius expired, but the corrosion & fire continue to plague the Vigilant. It suffered 1 damage to column 3 for the corrosion, but the fire failed to hurt it at all.

Severius let "Vision" expire, but paid to upkeep "Defender's Ward" on the Bastions. At this point, he could have given Deneghra's the opportunity to concede since was no chance of her preventing his victory on scenario.

The old man never had a second thought. There was no way he was going to let this vile creature & her minions live to see another day and spread death & destruction amongst the faithful. 

He sent the Indictor charging into the back arc of the Defiler. Surprisingly, it missed the initial attack; rolling double 1s. The follow up attack with its Shield also missed, which lead to the Indictor spending its last 2 focus to buy a Banisher attack & boost to hit. It finally succeeded in hitting the bone jack and, at dice +4, did 11 damage to column 4.

The Bastions made the most out of their leader's 8" command range and split into charges that managed to keep them all in formation, while allowing them to attack 3 key targets. The troop engaging Hellslinger Phantom charged Defiler. The leader then charged Hellslinger, as 2 others charged into Deneghra's back arc, & the last simply ran up to stay in formation with the leader.

Hellslinger Phantom got a free strike on the Bastion that charged away from it, but with "Defender's Ward", he was unable to hurt him at all. Safe from the free strike, the halberdier struck the killing blow to destroy the Defiler. Hellslinger Phantom suffered that same fate as the Bastion leader cleaved into him with a Consecrated Halberd.

* The Defiler was no match for the combined

might of Indictor & an Exemplar Bastion *

Of the 2 that charged Deneghra, only 1 was able to hit. At dice -1, he did 11 damage to give Severius the win by assassination.

After Action Review

I can't really blame this loss on any particular a bad dice roll or rolls. I think I lost it from the start with how I chose to deploy. Not that everything was out of place. Quite the contrary. I think that moving around just a few pieces would have made a big difference. 

For one thing, all of my long range threats were on the right side of the battlefield. Having both of my shooters (Hellslinger Phantom & Defiler) over there with the Stalker's "Bounding Leap" ability meant that I was able to to deep into the right zone early & hit from a distance, but I had no legit long range threats to deal with the Bastions & dual jack threat marching towards the left zone.

I would have been better served putting the Defiler with Darragh Wrathe. Both of them are better suited to dealing with infantry than the Ripjaw. Defiler would have given me a chance to spray some sludge on the Bastions before they got into range to start doing damage. Then Darragh could move in after Defiler kept them at bay & do some damage of his own.

Ripjaw was out of place and would have been better off helping double team the Revenger with the Stalker. He didn't have any have any offense in the 2nd round of his own & was only useful there when Deneghra channeled "Venom" through him.

The Mechanithralls did about as much as I could expect from them usually: tie up her forces and hopefully do at least a little bit of damage in the process. I didn't expect her to lean so hard on Indictor's ability to use trample power attacks. Not only did it squish a lot of my infantry, but also allowed it to get to in position to both contest the left zone & get attacks in on some of my heavier hitters.

As for Donna, she noted that having her Bastions deployed so far to the side kept them from getting into the zone as soon as they could have otherwise. At SPD 4, they'd have done better to be closer to the middle with the Indictor & putting the Vigilant on the outside.

Also, her Sunburst wasn't really a factor like it has been in the past. Part of that could be credited to me making the most of the terrain between us. On the flip side, it could be blamed on her not picking targets better based on the terrain & my deployment / movement. As I moved forward, she didn't adjust as well as she could to pick the best targets.

She also got so into the game that a few times she didn't consider who her jacks might be able to attack or not attack before allocating more focus than some of them could actually use that turn. This isn't exactly the worst mistake, because to be honest, we love the fact that the game is so engaging that we sometimes miss things simply because we're so into what's unfolding in front of us on the table.