from the editor - Mega Miniatures

Life is good! Mark has asked me to participate in another Warmachine battle
report. I got to take part in F.R.’s other Warmachine battle report, many moons
ago, using the Quick Start rules. Now, I’m going to get to play against Herr
Theurer using the regular rule set. I have wanted to get some more playing time
in on Warmachine, but real life sure does get in the way. That’s enough
complaining. Mark and I decided to go for as large a game as possible. With the
model assortment that I currently have I can field 740 points, including two
Warcasters. So, that is what we are going to do.
My plan of attack will consist of the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) approach.
The Deliverers and the Redeemer will pound the Cygnaran forces from a distance
while the rest of my fanatics move in to do what they do best: punch the
opposition in the brain. The only real subtlety will be in trying to keep the Choir
of Menoth near enough to both groups of Warjacks for the Chants to affect them.
Last as well as least, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my inexperience at the
game does not put me in too much of a hole. Let’s get it on!
Brian’s Deployment
I know that Mark has been accumulating units of Long Gunners and Gun Magelike
models to complement his ‘jacks. I decided to start at the top and work my
way down. As The High Reclaimer is still in the mail my choices for warcasters
defaulted to High Exemplar Kreoss and Grand Scrutator Severius. That name,
Scrutator, seems like something indecent that you would do on a farm. But, I
digress. I believe that I will have the advantage when it comes to the voodoo
portion of the program because between Kreoss and Severius I will have fifteen
Focus points. Mark will have Haley and Stryker on the board. The two of them
total only thirteen Focus points. I also believe that Kreoss’ and Severius’ Feats are
better than the Cygnaran Warcasters’. Severius’ Feat, Divine Might, can be a
game breaker since it keeps all enemy warcasters in his control area from gaining
Focus points and casting/channeling spells for one turn. Kreoss’ ability to knock
down all enemy models in his control area will come in very handy since models
that are prone only have a Defense of 5. Even a Skyhammer can hit Defense 5.
Speaking of Skyhammers I will bring all that I can. I bring a base unit of six
Deliverers (I can’t wait for the rest of them to arrive in the mail). Since the
Redeemer Warjack also carries Skyhammers he gets to come along for the ride.
Because Deliverers and the Redeemer both have the Inaccurate (-4 to ranged
attacks) ability I will need to find a place with clear lanes of fire for them and just
leave them in place so I can get the aiming bonus for not moving. I will send the
Redeemer with Severius because he has more Focus than Kreoss and that extra
Focus can mean launching several more Skyhammers over the course of the game.
To keep the Redeemer and Severius company will be a Vanquisher and a
Revenger (for channeling purposes). Kreoss’ battle group will consist of a
Crusader and a Repenter. To help out all of the Warjacks I will field a full Choir
of Menoth. Since I have not used the Choir before, I’m very interested in seeing
how well the Choir works at augmenting my ‘jacks. The rest of my points will go
to a full, ten man squad of Temple Flameguard and, last, but certainly not least, my
freshly painted Paladin of the Order of the Wall (a truly lovely model).
Ok, so here I am fresh (well fairly fresh) off of a win and a loss at GenCon SoCal
and am more confident in my abilities at Warmachine after gaining a bit, actually
a lot, of experience from getting to play with people outside my regular group.
It’s amazing what a change in opponents will do for your knowledge of the game.
It seems that no matter what the game, I always learn something more from
playing with ‘new’ opponents. Hopefully that will turn into a severe ass-kicking
for Brian!
Getting up to 740 (or so points) to match Brian should not be a problem,
especially since I loaded up on goodies at GenCon. In addition to most of the
available Cygnar troops I also have Boomhowler and his crew along with Herne
& Jonne that I can use to bolster my forces. I’ ve used Boomhowler once before
and they got roasted but that was primarily due to my ineptness in their
deployment and use. I think I’ll hold off on them for a while. It’s true that I have
a new unit of Long Gunners but they are currently off being painted so they are
off the list also.
I’ ve decided to build two battlegroups, each centered around their own Warcaster.
First up will be Stryker and a hand-to-hand force that will include a full unit of
Stormblades, an Ironclad and a Lancer. Use of Stryker’s feat, Invincibility, at the
right time will make this group all but impenetrable. Right time, yeah, that’s the
key to this and one that I have yet to master at Warmachine. Overall, there’s
nothing too subtle about this group. They are very much a hammer that needs to
be put to use in very aggressive fashion.
For group number two I’ll grab Haley as their Warcaster and build it around
ranged fire capability. With her feat, Blitz, they should be able to throw down a
withering hail of fire and hopefully kick Brian in the brain. I’ ve had pretty good
luck with the Gun Mages so we’ll start with a full boat of them. Yes, you will
notice correctly that my Gun Mages are currently made up of Confrontation
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