"Step By Step" - Brawlmachine Batrep Dec 24, 2021: Protectorate vs Skorne

We got quite a few games in over the holiday break at the end of last year / beginning of this year. This is one particularly fun play we had late on Christmas Eve after spending the day & early evening with family.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take an overhead shot of the table before we started the game. I also neglected to take any photos in the last turn of the game.  I'll blame both of those mistakes on us playing late at night after a long day. Thankfully, I was able to make a mock-up to show the location & types of the terrain overlaid onto the scenario layout from the rules & get quite a few pics of the game leading up to that brief, last turn.

Scenario & Terrain

We played Brawlmachine scenario 1: Orbits & used a random terrain generator to choose what terrain we'd use & how to lay it out. All descriptions going forward are from my vantage point (the Skorne side of the table).

There was a rectangular zone running from left to right on the left side of the battlefield. Across from it on the right was a circular zone. There are 2 flags between the zones, each being 16" from either player's starting table edge.

There was a stone wall (obstacle + cover) in line with the rectangular zone on the Protectorate side of the table. Across from it on the right was a house (obstruction). Clipping the inside corner (Protectorate side) of the rectangular zone was a stone tower (obstruction) and just off of the opposite corner (Skorne side) was a forest.

Another forest was just inside the circular zone on its left side, centered across each player's starting table edge. A few inches away from it towards the Skorne side was a large boulder (obstruction). There was another house about 12-15" in from the Skorne edge that was towards the left side of the rectangular zone. Across from it, there was a rubble pile (1/2 obstacle + cover, 1/2 obstruction) between the circular zone & Skorne table edge.

Lists & Deployment

I won the starting roll & chose to go 2nd. That allowed me to pick the table edge that I felt would benefit me more terrain-wise; mostly because the house & rubble pile on that side were fairly far apart. Also, I felt like it would give me more protection against her Deliverer Sunburst, both from the terrain & from not giving her the chance to get a shot off at the end of the first round after my army would have moved into range if I went first.

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

Protectorate was primarily deployed in a single line formation. To the far left was Vigilant, Indictor, & Revenger with Severius to the right of his battlegroup. Next to Severius was the Arms Master & Sunburst Crew. To their right were the Bastions. Due to the layout of the terrain, a couple of the Bastions were deployed behind the far-side house. Elias Gade was Advance Deployed in front of the Vigilant just behind the stone wall.

Skorne (Me) "Masters of War" - Beast Master Xekaar, Titan Gladiator, Cyclops Raider, Cyclops Savage, Razor Worm, Aradus Scarab, Mortitheurge Willbreaker, Extoller Novitiate, Ancestral Guardian, Hakaar the Destroyer, & a full unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers.

The Ancestral Guardian, Hakaar, & the Novitiate were deployed on the far-left of the battlefield in line with the forest that was near the rectangular zone. About 4" to their right was most of the remainder of the army from left to right: Savage, Willbreaker, Xekaar, Scarab, Gladiator, & Raider. The Beast Handlers were deployed behind the main force, going B2B with different beasts across the formation. Razor Worm was Advanced Deployed in front of the Exalted solos.

Titan Gladiator was named as Exemplar Warder Elias Gade's initial "Prey" target.

Protectorate Turn 1

The Exemplar Bastion made their way towards the circular zone. The position of the stucco house forced them to run at an angle, leaving them in a staggered formation with 3 in a column next to the house & the other 2 slightly offset to their right. The terrain was already proving to be a hindrance to Severius' army.

The Arms Master ran up to go B2B with the far-side flag & signaled for the Sunburst Crew to advance. Both Grunts dug their boots into the dirt as they helped the Gunner run the heavy ballista forward; stopping just a couple of inches behind the Deliverer Arms Master & in line with the Bastions.

* With the Bastions nearby in support, the Sunburst Crew readies for battle *

Next, Severius activated his battlegroup. In turn, each jack spent its lone focus to run towards the rectangular zone. Both the Revenger & Indictor ran forward towards the stone tower on the right of the stone wall. Vigilant then ran up around the other side of the stone wall.

Hoping to get a better vantage point to shoot at the advancing Skorne force, Elias Gade walked up beside the stone tower. Sitting a few inches from the rectangular zone, he hoped to snipe at any warbeasts who dared approach it in the next round.

* The mighty Indictor marches toward the Skorne invaders *

Severius walked up into the safety behind the Indictor. From there, he cast "Defender's Ward" on the Bastions (+2 DEF, +2 ARM) & ended his activation.

Skorne Turn 1

In a show of force, Xekaar rallied his warbeasts to lead the charge into battle. First, the Razor Worm slithered up to the rectangular zone. Xekaar then forced the beast to rile it for 1 fury & it "Dug In" (gains cover, does not block LOS, does not suffer blast damage). The Cyclops Savage ran up just behind the forest near the rectangular zone. The Scarab ran directly forward towards the circular zone and the Titan Gladiator ran forward to stop next to the Scarab. Lastly, the Raider ran up behind the large boulder on the edge of the circular zone.

* Cyclops Raider taking cover behind a large boulder *

Keeping their line formation intact, the Paingiver Beast Handlers walked forward. They ended their advance a few inches behind the forward line the beasts had established. The idea was to stay close enough to support the warbeasts while limiting the damage caused if the Sunburst Crew were to score a direct hit. Mortitheurge Willbreaker walked up to go B2B with the near-side flag & used his special action, "Flesh Hardening" to grant "Tough" to the Beast Handler unit.

Beast Master Xekaar moved forward 7" to gain a better vantage point to survey the battlefield. With no enemies in range of his spells & no injuries to his battlegroup, he discarded 5 fury & ended his activation by repositioning 5" to go behind the forest with the Savage.

Hakaar & the Ancestral Guardian both ran up between the wooden house & the nearest forest. The Extoller Novitiate then ran up to support them.

* Exalted Warriors move towards an inevitable

clash with the Protectorate warjacks*

Protectorate Turn 2

Severius replenished his focus & paid to upkeep "Defender's Ward". With no Skorne in range of his jacks, he chose not to allocate any focus to them. 

Gade kept his position against the stone tower & gained the aiming bonus as he targeted the Razor Worm with both Crossbows. The first shot missed on a roll of double 1s. The second shot just barely managed to hit. As the arrow slammed into the Worm's flesh, it took 3 damage to spiral 3.

The Arms Master granted "Artillerist" to the Sunburst Crew (+2 RAT, can reroll direction and / or distance if an AOE attack deviates). The crew moved the fiery ballista up past the far-side flag & fired a volley at the Titan Gladiator. Flames erupted as the shot smashed into the Gladiator & caught the Scarab in the blast. In addition to both beasts being lit on fire, the Gladiator suffered 2 damage to spiral 1. The Scarab survived the blast with no immediate damage, but skittered nervously as flames flickered off of its hardened-carapace shell.

Wanting to establish a presence in the circular zone, the Bastion leader issued the "Press Forward" order. The battle hardened soldiers ran forward with some going behind the central forest & others beside it.

* The Exemplar Bastions move into the circular zone *

Revenger & Vigilant both moved deep into the rectangular zone. Indictor ran in front of the far-side flag to protect the Arms Master & Sunburst Crew. Severius moved behind the Sunburst Crew and put "Vision" on the Revenger (ignore 1 damage roll, then "Vision" expires). He finished closed the turn out by channeling "Ashes to Ashes" onto the Extoller Novitiate through Revenger; killing the Skorne solo outright with 9 damage. The spell also caught the Ancestral Guardian, hitting her for 7 damage. As the Novitiate died, Hakaar collected his soul.

Skorne Turn 2

The fire on the Scarab expired, but the Gladiator's did not. The damage roll was a 7 on dice -7. So, while it continued to burn, the Gladiator was fortunate not to suffer any additional damage. 

The Scarab moved forward 5" and cast its animus, "Scuttler", to "Dig In". Next, the Raider took aim at the closest Bastion; boosting both to hit & for damage. The Heavy Reiver showered the trooper with needles for 7 damage; which was spread amongst the unit thanks to their "Sanguine Bond" ability.

The Beast Handlers then walked up to the beasts in front of them. Of the 2 that moved up to the Gladiator, one of them used "Medicate" to heal 1 damage the beast had suffered & the other used "Enrage" to grant it +2 STR. Two others walked up to the Raider & used "Condition" to remove 1 fury each from him. One of the two near the Savage also used "Enrage" to boost the beast's STR.

Razor Worm cast its animus, "Spiny Growth", on itself (+2 ARM, if hit by a non-warrior model, the attacker suffers d3 damage immediately after the attack). The serpentine beast then plunged into the dirt & charged the Revenger. Forcing to boost to hit, the Worm attempted to bite into the warjack's armor, but no damage was done, as "Vision" warded it off before the spell expired. 

Now that the protection from "Vision" was gone, Ancestral Guardian charged the Revenger. Her Halberd swung down into the jack's right shoulder; doing 4 damage to column 6. Charging in with his Great Swords, Hakaar continued the attacks on Revenger. The Exalted warrior drove the first blade into the Protectorate warjack to do 10 damage to column 5; crippling the jacks right arm & Halberd. The second attack with his left Great Sword also hit, but failed to do any additional damage.

* A trio of Skorne hammer away at the Revenger *

Titan Gladiator had planned to charge the Bastions, but realized too late that the only 1 it had LOS to was out of range. The 2 that were in charge range were completely on the other side of the forest where the beast's LOS was blocked. Instead of charging, the Gladiator was forced to run into the forest to close the distance, while making sure that it stayed just outside of the 2" range of the Bastions' "Defensive Strike". The hope was that the Gladiator had gotten close enough to prevent the Bastions from getting the 3" needed for a boosted charge attack next round.

Mortitheurge Willbreaker moved up to the front of the flag, still B2B with it, and cast "Flesh Hardening" to give the Beast Handlers "Tough" for another round. The Savage was forced to run through the forest towards Gade. The rough terrain slowed him down though & only allowed him to cross midway into the rectangular zone.

Xekaar moved to the edge of the circular zone & cast "Psycho Surgery" (heal d3+1 damage from each beast in his battlegroup in his control range). Both the Razor Worm & the Gladiator were completely healed as a result. He then discarded down to 1 fury & repositioned 5" to moved into the circular zone between the Raider & Gladiator. 

 * The Titan Gladiator moves into the forest to face the Exemplar Bastions *

Each side scored 1 point for their respective flags to end the round.

Protectorate 1 - Skorne 1

Protectorate Turn 3

Severius allocated 2 focus to the Revenger, gave 1 focus to each of his other jacks, & paid to upkeep "Defender's Ward".

The Bastion leader gave the "Press Forward" order to rally his unit to charge into their foes. The troop at the far left of the formation charged the Raider, while the other 4 moved into the forest to surround the Gladiator. The Bastion charging the Raider hit for 13 damage to spiral 1. The Cyclop's mind was crippled from the attack.

The Gladiator miscalculated the Bastion leader's tactical prowess, as he guided his troops into charge lanes that allowed them to just barely get the 3" needed to make successful charge attacks to surround the Titan. As such, only the first 3 that charged the Gladiator were needed to destroy the beast. All 3 hit doing 11 damage to spiral 6, 5 damage to spiral 3, & another 12 damage to spiral 3 to take the heavy warbeast out. Xekaar reeved the fury as the Gladiator fell and Elias Gade named the Cyclops Savage as his new "Prey" target.

* While it took 3 rounds for the Bastions to get into the action, they made their presence felt with a swift & devastating attack on the Gladiator *

The Arms Master maintained his position on the far-side flag & granted "Artillerist" to the Sunburst Crew. The Crew readied the heavy weapon & took aim at the Beast Handler to the left of the near-side flag. The shot hit & caught another Beast Handler in the blast. Both were killed instantly; each failing their "Tough" rolls as the fire consumed them.

Gade leveled his dual Crossbows at the Savage & let both arrows fly. Both attacks hit and did 4 damage to spiral 6 & 2 damage to spiral 3, respectively.

Revenger attacked Razor Worm with its Repulsor Shield. Boosting for both the attack & damage rolls, it did 7 damage to spiral 6. The attack triggered the Razor Worm's "Spiny Growth" & the resulting damage hit the warjack for 2 to column 5; crippling its left arm & Repulsor Shield. Boosting the attack roll again, Revenger just barely hit. With no focus left to boost the damage roll, it was only able to do an additional 2 damage to spiral 5; rolling only a single die. "Spiny Growth" triggered again and did 2 more damage to column 2.

Vigilant raised its right Shield Fist above the Ancestral Guardian. Punching the Exalted warrior square in the face, the jack hit her for 2 damage at dice -7. The Guardian was barely hanging on with a single health left, but the Vigilant's second Shield Fist attack finally destroyed her. Hakaar collected her soul as the lifeless, statuesque figure collapsed on the battlefield.

Indictor considered charging the Savage, but didn't want to leave a charge lane open to the Sunburst Crew. Instead, the heavy jack moved up to attack the Scarab. The first attack with its Banisher missed. Indictor then slammed its Shield into the Scarab for 11 damage to spiral 3; crippling the beast's body. Indictor bought another attack with its Banisher and cleaved the Scarab in half. Xekaar reeved the fury as it died.

* The Scarab was no match for the Indictor's sustained attacks *

Severius cast "Vision" onto the Sunburst Crew. He ended his activation by popping his feat, "Divine Might" (While in Severius' control range, enemy models cannot cast spells or be used the channel spells & enemy warcasters / warlocks suffer -2 FOCUS / FURY, lasts for 1 round).

Each side scored 1 more point for their respective flags.

Protectorate 2 - Skorne 2

Skorne Turn 3

Xekaar leeched as much fury as he could from his remaining beasts, but with his FURY being limited to 4 due to "Divine Might", the Razor Worm was left with 2 fury on it. Razor Worm failed its Threshold check, frenzied, & attacked Revenger. The beast hit on a roll of double 4s, but was only able to do 1 damage to column 3. Xekaar removed the fury that was left on the Worm to clear it for next round.

Mortitheurge Willbreaker cast "Influence" to take control of the Exemplar Bastion  in the forest closest to Xekaar. The spell was a success and, in an act of outright blasphemy, allowed the Willbreaker to command the Bastion to strike down the troop to his right.

Cyclops Savage turned his attention to the Indictor. Moving into its back arc, the Cyclops hit easily & did 5 damage to column 5. Being just outside of Xekaar's now-limited control range, he was unable to be forced to boost or buy another attack.

Enraged by how they cut down the mightiest of his beasts, Xekaar sought to make the Bastions pay a heavy price. He charged into the forest & struck with his first Barbed Whip. Even with "Defender's Ward" boosting their ARM, his first attack was enough to take out the first Bastion. His second attack did another 5 damage to kill the Bastion to his left. Buying yet another attack, he struck down the last trooper who stood in the forest. He ended his activation by popping his feat, "Whispers of Torment" (models in his control range suffer -3 STR, MAT, RAT, & THR for 1 round).

The Cyclops Raider moved away from the Bastion engaging him; risking a free strike. Fortunately for the Raider, the Bastion's attack missed thanks to "Whispers of Torment" weakening his MAT. From his new position, the Raider was able to fire his Heavy Reiver at the last Bastion. Boosting to hit since his mind was crippled, the Cyclops showered the Bastion with a hail of needles to pierce his armor & kill him outright.

* Cyclops Savage sneaking up behind the Indictor to attack *

The Beast Handlers now moved up to support the Raider. Three of them went B2B with him & all used their special action, "Medicate"; while the fourth used "Condition" to place 1 fury on the beast. In all, they were able to heal the Raider for 7 damage.

Hakaar swung his first Great Sword at the Revenger & hit easily, but failed to do any damage. His follow up attack also hit and this time, Hakaar spent one of the souls he'd collected to boost the damage; doing 8 to column 4 & destroying the warjack.

With Xekaar scoring the circular zone & both sides scoring their flags, Skorne was finally able to take the first lead in the game.

Protectorate 3 - Skorne 4

Protectorate Turn 4

Severius allocated 2 focus each to the Vigilant & Indictor. He paid to upkeep "Vision" & signaled the Deliverer Arms Master to lead off the attack. The Arms Master gave "Artillerist" to the Sunburst Crew again & commanded the Gunner to take aim at the leader of the Beast Handlers. 

With their already low RAT being hit by Xekaar's feat, the shot missed. "Artillerist" triggered allowing the Gunner to reroll the direction & distance of the attack's deviation. This allowed the blast to be directed an inch to the left of the initial target; still catching the majority of the Skorne in the area.

Mortitheurge Willbreaker, Cyclops Raider, & all but 1 of the Beast Handlers were caught in the blast and lit on fire. The damage rolls that followed destroyed all 3 Beast Handlers, along with doing 3 damage to the Willbreaker & another 5 damage to spiral 4 of the Raider. 

* Almost the entire Beast Handler unit was swallowed in the flames of a Sunburst blast *

Exemplar Warder Elias Gade fired his first Crossbow at the Razor Worm; hitting for 2 to spiral 5 to cripple its spirit. His second shot also hit to do another 6 damage to spiral 3. The Worm was left with only 4 health remaining.

Vigilant moved in to attempt to throw Hakaar at the Razor Worm. The attack hit & Vigilant easily won the strength test. As Hakaar collided with the Worm, both became Knocked Down. The Worm suffered 3 damage, but managed to hang on with a single health left. Hakaar's effective ARM 19 proved to be more than enough to protect him from suffering any damage from the throw; despite the additional die added from being thrown into the Razor Worm.

Indictor turned to face the Cyclops Savage & attacked with its Banisher first. In order to counter "Whispers of Torment", Indictor boosted both the attack & damage rolls; resulting in 10 damage to spiral 3. With a single blow, the jack managed to cripple the beast's spirit & body. Boosting to hit with its Shield, Indictor did another 3 damage to spiral 6 of the Savage.

Severius moved out from behind the Sunburst Crew to gain LOS to the Savage. From his new position, the Grand Scrutator was in range to cast "Immolation" and destroyed the Cyclops in an eruption of Menoth's holy flame.

With no change in the scoring positions, Skorne scored another 2 points to Protectorate's 1.

Protectorate 4 - Skorne 6

Skorne Turn 4

The fires on both Mortitheurge Willbreaker & the Cyclops Raider continued to burn. The flames completely consumed the Willbreaker, killing him instantly. The Raider suffered 2 damage to spiral 2 from the fire. Xekaar leeched from the Raider & called on Spirit Bond for his fallen beasts to bring replenish back to 6 fury. 

The lone Paingiver Beast Handler remaining moved up B2B with the Raider. He then used "Medicate" to heal the beast for 2 damage. The Cyclops could have stayed back to fire a volley of needles at the Indictor, but chose to risk entering into melee with the heavy jack to prevent it from moving into & contesting the circular zone. Charging into the jack's back arc, the Raider hit easily. The Indictor's high ARM limited the damage he was able to do; 1 to column 4. Xekaar then forced the Raider to buy another melee attack. The beast's Punching Spike hit again & boosted the damage; this time doing 2 to column 3. Forcing him one last time, Xekaar commanded the Raider to buy another melee attack. This last attack hit & did 3 more damage to column 4.

The Indictor was a formidable threat with its Banisher sword being P+S 18 thanks to Severius. On top of that, the jack was a constant nuisance to Xekaar and his beasts, as Indictor's "Consecration" ability prevented them from casting any spells within 6" of it. Xekaar was determined to eliminate this dual threat as soon as possible & decided to charge into Indictor's back arc. Hitting on anything, but double 1s, the warlock lashed out with his Barbed Whips.

The charge attack hit & did 4 damage to column 5 at dice -9. Xekaar leaned heavily on his ability as a "Weapon Master". The extra damage die provided was critical in any chance to overcome the Indictor's high ARM. His second basic melee attack also hit. Boosting the damage, Xekaar did another 3 damage to column 5 to cripple the jack's right arm & Banisher. 

Xekaar then spent all but 1 of his remaining fury to buy 2 more melee attacks and boost the damage for each; doing 11 damage to column 6 & 4 to column 5, respectively. Severius could do nothing as he watched the body of his mighty warjack slump to the ground. The lights in Indictor's eyes flickered briefly before going completely dark. With the immediate threat eliminated, Xekaar repositioned 5" back into the circular zone behind the central forest.

* Xekaar risking exposing himself to Severius & the Sunburst in his determination to destroy Indictor *

Leaving Hakaar to deal with Vigilant, Razor Worm forfeited its combat action to shake the Knock Down & moved in to engage Gade. With its spirit crippled, the Worm could not be forced to buy any additional melee attacks, but would serve a purpose in tying Gade up so that the Exemplar Warder could not easily make ranged attacks at Hakaar.

Hakaar the Destroyer then forfeited his movement to shake the Knock Down & attacked Vigilant. Hakaar's first attack with his right Great Sword hit, but even with spending a soul to boost the damage, he couldn't crack the jack's ARM 21; rolling a 6 on dice -8. His second attack landed as well, but rolling 4 for damage, the blade glanced off of Vigilant's chest plate without doing any damage.

With Xekaar back in the circular zone & the Arms Master on the far-side flag, each side scored 1 more point.

Protectorate 5 - Skorne 7

Protectorate Turn 5

Severius replenished his focus back to 8. When Severius moved during his last activation, his lone warjack still in battle was now out of his control range. Vigilant would have to fight this round without the added benefit of focus.

The Deliverer Arms Master moved off of the flag to get the Raider in range of his Fire Bomb. The canister erupted in a fireball as it hit the Cyclops in the chest; doing 4 damage to spiral 2. The Sunburst followed his lead & launched a volley at the Raider. The giant flaming arrow slammed into the beast to do another 7 damage to spiral 6; crippling his mind.

Elias Gade saw the opportunity to possibly remove 2 threats. He first struck the Razor Worm with one of his bayonets. With only 4 health remaining, the resulting damage killed the beast easily. This triggered Gade's "Quick Work" ability allowing him to immediately make a ranged attack against Hakaar. The shot hit, but rolling 4 on dice -5, the arrow merely bounced off of Hakaar's shoulder plate.

Hoping to inflict some damage where Gade could not, Vigilant punched his right Shield Fist into Hakaar's face. Getting past the Exalted warrior's ARM 18 was a true challenge without the ability to boost the damage. The first attack only managed to hit Hakaar for 1. Vigilant's second initial attack also hit & did 3 more damage.

Severius walked up B2B with the far-side flag. From there, he cast "Immolation" on the Cyclops Raider & boosted the damage. The flames completely consumed the beast & Xekaar reeved his fury as the Cyclops fell.

As the round came to a close, each side scored 1 more point (Xekaar - circular zone, Severius - far-side flag). With only Skorne having 1 last turn left to play, Protectorate conceded the victory by scenario.

Protectorate 6 - Skorne 8

After Action Review

As mentioned in the intro, this was a rare play that didn't start until 9pm after a long day. So, it goes without saying that neither of us played our best game. 

It says so much about Warmachine / Hordes that even when we were both exhausted, even though we made more than a few mistakes, we both thoroughly enjoyed our play that night. We were engaged & drawn into the action as the story of the battle unfolded on the table before us. Just another example of why we love WMH so much.

The first mistake I made was only thinking of the terrain's use defensively to protect my models going into the 2nd round. I failed to realize how my army hiding behind the forests would be unable to charge any of her models on the other side of them. I had everything planned out to in my first turn to use Titan Gladiator's "Rush" animus to get "Pathfinder" and charge through the forest to attack her Exemplar Bastions.

It was only when I began the Gladiator's activation that I realized that even thought it had enough movement with "Pathfinder" to get to the Bastions, them being completely behind the forest meant Gladiator didn't have LOS to them. Without LOS, no charge could be declared.

Another mistake I made was forgetting that Hakaar has "Steady" which meant that when he was thrown by Vigilant, he should not have been knocked down. Since Hakaar's next activation was just to make melee attacks against Vigilant without needing to move or turn at all, having Hakaar forfeit his movement to shake the Knock Down had no effect on the game when it was all said & done.

Donna rightfully put a lot of focus on Titan Gladiator at the start of the game. I had used it to cause her a ton of headaches in our previous game. Where she messed up here though was that she made Gladiator the initial "Prey" target for Gade, but deployed Gade away from him. Again, we'll blame this on playing late a night when tired. She mentioned as much as the first round started. 

She wanted Gade to be on the left of the battlefield where he was so that he could be ranged support for the 2 jacks she had moving into the rectangular zone. Had she made Razor Worm the initial "Prey", the game would have likely taken a much different turn early on.

She did very well to march Indictor up the middle. She has learned to use his "Consecration" ability to perfectly hamper any spell casting or channeling I could want to do. Add to this, Indictor has 32 damage boxes & is ARM 21 as long as its Shield isn't crippled. This provides me with such a big hurdle that I have to focus so much effort to remove it.