M.A.G.U.S. - treasure island (2)

Preparations

The evening and night passed without incident. Valeria enchanted Athosian so that she would not need to sleep; and the thief kept watch while the others rested and recuperated after a hard day.

In the morning, preparations could being in earnest, by meditation and restoration of health. Shamil explored their surroundings from a bird's eye view (literally), but found no man-made structures. Their only way forward was opening the large door.

The magical door

Honestly, I hate puzzles. And for this door, not one of its four seals could be opened by any in-game mechanic (though we tried physical attacks, spells and alchemical acid). I mostly sat out this part, and was only useful by being the first one attacked by the door, thus discovering just how dangerous this puzzle would be. I was frequently reminded of my uselessness by my sweet, sweet party members, who then proceeded to quaff my healing potions left and right :-)

Fortunately everyone else seemed to enjoy the puzzle, and I'm not telling anything about it, as I might use it in a future campaign.

Altar

The door opened in a perfectly round chamber, with an altar surrounded by columns. The iconography of Arel, the goddess of nature provided no clue to Valeria. Fortunately, the eagle eyed party discovered the wind blowing from under the altar, and so Shamil and Biznard pushed the thing away, revealing the chamber underneath.

Chamber of Wind

There were no stairs, so Athosian was lowered by rope. The round chamber featured 4 lenses and 4 windows, through which the wind was blowing stronger and stronger. Everyone else was already down and mucking about with the rotating doors around the chamber, and I was just thinking of getting down myself, when the chamber's guardian made its appearance, and we were faced with an air elemental!

The elemental attacked immediately, making full use of the terrain features. Lenses were rotated to focus the light, burning their targets. Doors were flung about, hitting the adventurers and knocking them about. Nope, let's observe this from above...

Interruption

It was getting late, so we ended the game mid-battle. I was itching to continue and give that elemental a taste of magical lightning!

M.A.G.U.S. - kincses sziget (2)

Why is this post not in English?

Előkészületek

Az este és az éjszaka incidens nélkül telt el. Valéria varázslatának hatására Athosiannak nem volt szüksége alvásra, pihenésre, így ő őrködött, amíg a kalandozók az igazak (vagy legalábbis a fáradtak) álmát aludták.

Reggel, kipihenten kezdődhettek az előkészületek: Fp és pszi-pontok felmeditálása. Madárszemmel körbenézve Shamil nem fedezett fel emberi kézre utaló jeleket, úgyhogy az egyetlen út a barlangot lezáró ajtó kinyitása maradt.

Mágikus ajtó

Megvallom, hogy utálom a logikai feladványokat. Az ajtó négy pecsétjét pedig semmilyen játékmechanikai próbálkozással: varázslattal, támadással vagy alkímiával nem lehetett kinyitni. Igy ennél a résznél nem voltam hasznos (legfeljebb azzal, hogy az ajtó védelmi mechanizmusa először Valériának harapta ki a torkát, ezzel jelezve, hogy veszélyes próba előtt állunk). Ezt kedves csapattársaim többször is jelezték nekem, figyelmen kívül hagyva, hogy két kézzel vedelik az általam főzött gyógyitalokat :-)

Szerencsére a többiek élvezték a feladványt, és mind a négy állatos illusztrációból kiokoskodták a megoldást: a kutyát simogatni kell, a kígyót a farkánál megfogni, a lovat vezetni és járomba fogni, a tigrisnek csalit mutatni. Ehhez persze sokat kísérleteztünk, és az ajtó minden nem megfelelő kísérletet iszonyú sebek osztogatásával jutalmazott.

Oltár

Tökéletesen kör alakú, oszlopokkal teli terembe léptünk, közepén oltárral. Az Arel-ikonográfia nem segített, sokkal inkább az oltár alatti résből kisüvítő szél. Együttes erővel Shamil és Biznárd elnyomták az oltárt, és felfedték az alatta levő termet.

A szél kamrája

Természetesen nem vezetett le lépcső, úgyhogy Athosiant kötélen engedtük le. Az ismét tökéletesen kör alakú terem tartalmazott 4 rést, melyen egyre erősebben süvített be a szél, 4 lencsét, és egy nagy adag forgóajtót. Már éppen azon gondolkoztam, hogy leszálljak-e Valériával, amikor megjelent a terem őre - egy légelementál!

Az elementál azonnal támadásba lendült, a levegőt mozgatva megforgatta a lencséket (erős fénysugarakat irányítva a kalandozókra) és az ajtókat (hol arcon, hol háton csapva őket). Nem, ezt inkább felülről szemléljük...

Félbeszakítva

Későre járt már, úgyhogy csata közben hagytuk abba a játékot. Alig vártam, hogy legközelebb jól megszórjam villámmal a humanoid légörvényt!

Chaos Daemons vs Ynnari, 20.07.2017

Mission: Contact Lost

Lists: 2000 points

Ynnari: 5 CP

• Vanguard Detachment
• Skyrunner Autarch: Sunburst grenades; Twin shuriken catapult; Banshee mask; Shuriken pistol; Fusion gun; Laser lance;
• 3x 5-man Wraithguard, D-scythes
• 3x Wave Serpent, Twin shuriken cannon; Shuriken cannon; Spirit stones; Star engines; Vectored engines;
• Spearhead Detachment
• Autarch with Swooping Hawk Wings: Sunburst grenades; Banshee mask; Shuriken pistol; Lasblaster; Power sword;
• Solitaire
• 3x War Walker, 2x Bright Lance
• Wraithlord: Wraithbone fists; Shuriken catapult(x2); Bright lance(x2);

Daemons: 7 CP

• Battalion Detachment
• Daemon Prince of Nurgle, wings, axe, warlord
• Epidemius
• Nurglings
• 10-man Plaguebearers
• 30-man Plaguebearers, instrument, icon
• Soul Grinder of Nurgle, warpsword
• Supreme Command Detachment
• 2x Daemon Prince of Nurgle, wings, double talons
• Herald of Nurgle
• Scabeiathrax

I told my opponent that Scabby is taking the field. I also included a Soul Grinder for further testing and toning down the list (seeing as so far it did nothing notable).

Deployment

I got to determine deployment and got table quarters, which was perfect the way my opponent placed the objectives - everything in the middle. I of course got second turn.

I set up my usual circle of Plaguebearers with everything in the middle and waited for the shooting to begin.

Ynnari, turn 1

The Eldar then did something completely unexpected and moved everything up, parking the transports right in front of my ranks.

The Solitaire also moved forward to engage the second group of Plaguebearers.

The shooting did come, as the Wave Serpents as well as the Bright Lance spam (aided by the Autarch in the back) unloaded into Scabby and the Soul Grinder. The Princes were well protected by the Plaguebearers.

I suffered 2 wounds on the Grinder and 5 on Scabby. Then the Autarch charged into one of my Princes, flying over the line of Plaguebearers. Needless to say, Heroic Intervention with Scabeiathrax...

And the Autarch died, having only inflicted 1 wound on the Prince.

Daemons, turn 1

I rarely get my enemies handed to me on a plate, so I took full advantage.

The Princes flew out of the protective circle. The Plaguebearers opened up so Scabeiathrax and the Grinder could move forward. 

I unleashed Smites as well as the shooting I had from Scabby and the Grinder.

Then I charged with everything, Scabby eating the overwatch from the first two Serpents. The point was to surround them as best as possible to kill the occupants while disembarking.

It went well, with Scabby destroying both Serpents. One had no space to disembark its occupants, killing the 5 Wraithguard instantly. The other than just lost 1 Wraithguard. Obviously one (or was it both?) exploded, causing mortal wounds across the board.

The Plaguebearers were doing a tremendously great job, as well.

Ynnari, turn 2

Wraithguard disembark.

Surviving Wave Serpent falls back.

Combined shooting inflicts wounds on the Princes, but I saved like crazy.

At this point the Eldar had no points scored, while I was leading by 3 or 4 with multiple objectives, first blood and slay the warlord.

Daemons, turn 2

Shooting and Smite annihilates the unengaged Wraithguard, melee does the rest. Princes move around, trying to protect the already wounded ones.

Plaguebearers hold out heroically.

Eldar, turn 3

At this point we were in a rush as my opponent was in a hurry. I forgot to take pictures of this turn. Nothing exceptional happened. The Eldar shot and didn't kill anything, and didn't score points.

Daemons, turn 3

Things shuffle around, with the white Prince getting in charging position.

To everybody's surprise, the Grinder shot down a War Walker. The Autarch used the Soulburst action to get out of there. But I managed to charge in and tie him up with the Nurglings.

Most things were out of range to act (except finally kill the Wave Serpent).

Except this hero Prince who started hacking at the War Walkers.

At this point I'm not sure where the turns transition into one another. I just know that I closed in with my Princes and unleashed Smite and Shooting again, leaving the Autarch all alone on the board. Everything I had was wounded, but nothing died.

The Autarch tried to get away just out of spite.

But the Plaguebearers, of all things, caught up to him.

With all the buffs from the Tally of Pestilence (especially the +1 attack), they managed to take down the already wounded Autarch, giving me victory by tabling.

Aftermath

I can't say this match was a good illustration for what the armies can do. The frontal assault of the Ynnari - instead of standing back and shooting - was a failed experiment at best, giving me the chance to annihilate half the opposing army in a single turn.

Nevertheless, I did learn stuff from my own experiments, too.

• The Soul Grinder is laughably bad. Even though it actually did something this game, I could have included another, much more cost effective, Prince for the point cost. Not enough shots, not enough attacks, and everything on 4+. I might use the Grinder in the future as a means to tone down a list.
• Princes do well. I was afraid of the double talons set up as it lacks damage and strength, but the number of attacks makes up for it.
• The Icon upgrade for infantry tends to be useless. Of the 3 games so far, it had only made up for its points cost once.

Oh, and

• Wave Serpents are ridiculously survivable, and this is coming from a Nurgle player.

Chaos Daemons vs Space Wolves, 14.07.2017

Mission: Cloak and shadows

We were lacking two sets of 8th edition objectives, so we played the cards face-up to check the rulebook for their actual text.

Lists: 1750 points

Daemons: Brigade Detachment

• Daemon Prince of Khorne with Wings, sword, warlord
• Skulltaker
• the Masque of Slaanesh
• 2x 10-man Bloodletters
• 2x 10-man Daemonettes
• 2x 3-man Nurglings
• 3x Beast of Nurgle
• 5-man Chaos Furies of Khorne
• 2x 5-man Flesh Hounds
• Skull Cannon
• Soul Grinder of Nurgle
• 5-man Havocs, 3 Lascannons

I experimented with multiple new things here, namely: departure from HQs doing all the work, killy infantry horde backed up by characters, cheap stuff filling up the detachment to get 12 CPs, and heavy long-range shooting.

Space Wolves: Battalion Detachment

• Logan Grimnar on Stormrider
• Rune Priest with axe and plasma pistol, warlord
• 6-man Blood Claws, 2x Power Fist, flamer, combi-flamer
• 8-man Grey Hunters, 2x Power Fist, flamer, combi-flamer
• 10-man Grey Hunters, 2x Meltagun, combi-melta
• 5-man Hellblasters
• Stormfang Gunship, twin multimeltas, twin lascannons
• 2x Razorback, storm bolter, assault cannon
• 2x Rhino, 2x storm bolter

Deployment

I rolled Spearhead Assault, which is perfect for a melee army. I kept dropping my shooting units in first, forcing the Wolves to make their important drops before me. We ended up concentrating most of our units in the center.

Soul Grinder and a unit of Nurglings on the left flank, Skullcannon, Furies and a Beast on the right. Other squad of Nurglings hiding in the opponent's deployment zone.

Ignore all the infantry in the Wolves' back lines; they are actually in their transports at this point.

All the infantry - Bloodletters, Daemonettes, Flesh Hounds, characters and Daemon Prince in the middle, facing off against the Razorbacks and Logan Grimnar.

I obviously took longer to deploy, and didn't bother to re-roll Seize the Initiative.

Space Wolves, turn 1

The flier came up and unloaded into the Soul Grinder, taking it down to 4 wounds.

The Hellblasters shot the Havocs, killing the two without lascannons. Everything else backed up and shot the Daemonettes, decimating both squads. I spent some CPs on auto-passing morale and rerolling another morale, but I managed to not give up first blood.

Daemons, turn 1

I thought I had enough firepower with the Grinder and 3 Lascannons to start doing damage. I concentrated all that into Logan (even ignoring the mission's long range shooting penalty with 1 CP) but only managed to inflict 1 wound. This was a severe blow to my morale. At least the Skullcannon managed to kill 1 Hellblaster.

Everything else advanced.

Space Wolves, turn 2

Everything backed up to the edge of the table.

Then opened fire on my massed infantry.

The turn's losses:

And what was left:

As an afterthought, the flier killed the Soul Grinder.

Daemons, turn 2

The situation looked dire. I had to get into combat, and soon.

On the right flank, the Nurglings came out of hiding to eat the overwatch and charge the Rhino. Then the Daemon Prince went in... failing an 8" charge, with a CP reroll.

In the middle, the Flesh Hounds charged into the Hellblasters. 1 died in overwatch.

On the left, the Flesh Hounds charged the Rhino. They rolled 11. Couldn't roll that for the Daemon Prince, now could I?

Skullcannon shot and did 2 wounds to a Rhino, Lascannon missed entirely.

Space Wolves, turn 3

Like true ambush predators, the Wolves jumped out of their transports for the killing blow.

The Rhino backed up, opening the way for a charge.

Grey Hunters advance supported by Logan.

Flamer squad jumps out, Rhino backs away.

The Daemon Prince, left out in the open after the failed charge, is greeted by the flier.

Miraculously, the flamers do no damage to the hounds. The Beast suffers some bolter shots, though.

Assault cannons and bolters kill the last of the Bloodletters.

Flier annihilates the Daemon Prince. Bolters and meltas tear through the Nurglings.

Flamer squad assaults the Hounds. This was the combat that I interrupted, killing some Marines and decreasing incoming damage.

Logan fails to kill the Masque. Hounds fail terribly against Hellblasters, and only 1 remains alive.

Nurglings are annihilated in combat.

Daemons, turn 3

At this point the game was already crumbling for me, though I did what I could to salvage it.

I didn't have luck with the objectives, so even though I camped everything in my deployment zone, we were about equal in points.

My heavy hitters - buffed Bloodletters, Skulltaker, Daemon Prince - were gone.

I tried to stall, hoping for better objectives to come. After all - we were in combat. 

Beast charges in.

The Masque tries a desperate gamble, breaking away from Logan and charging the Rune Priest. This would score warlord kill and an objective for killing a psyker.

Furies charge in.

Hounds and Beast fiddle around with the Marines. The Beasts in general suck in combat, rolling low on number of attacks. The Hounds do OK, but only in the turn in which they charge, after which the superior armor of the Marines skews the odds.

I attack with the Furies first, but they do no damage. Hitting on 4+ really sucks, as well as no AP, even with the large number of attacks granted by Unstoppable Ferocity. The Wolves interrupt with the last 2 CPs, and the Rune Priest kills the Masque.

The Marines strike back, easily killing the Furies, as expected.

Space Wolves, turn 4

I wanted to play out at least turn 4, to see if there was any chance left. But in this turn, the Wolves scored 7 points, taking the lead and killing most of my standing army. I conceded.

Aftermath

The mission was unfavorable for me, as the -1 to hit affected all my shooting, but only affected the initial volley of the Wolves, who then decimated my forces at mid-range. I also had misfortune drawing objectives. However, there are some things to learn:

• Both the Soul Grinder and the Skullcannon are useless as static shooters. I might try them next time advancing along the other units.
• Lascannons might work, if you don't roll as many 1s. Havocs camping in cover are still a good addition to the army, as they attract fire and have 2+ save.

With the two above, I can say that shooting as a whole was very disappointing in this game. 

• Infantry hordes might work, but only if there are other, bigger things distracting the enemy shooting. Assault cannons and regular bolters tear through T3. So instead of hiding all my characters behind squishy Bloodletters, I should have gone for a Bloodthirster rampaging in front, drawing all that S6 fire.
• Flesh Hounds are good but only in numbers. After the initial round of combat, the loose to Marines.
• Furies and Beasts of Nurgle don't do well in combat, and are only useful as slot fillers.