I Suck At Warmachine
I'm currently ranked number 4 in the league at the local game store. That's not bad, and the three players ahead of me are very good, so I feel no shame at being below them on the ladder.
I've been on a bit of a losing streak lately and it has really driven home some critical weaknesses in my Warmachine mojo. To writ, I have a had a hard time balancing scenario objectives.
Part of this can be attributed to the fact that, up until joining the league, the only scenario I ever played was 'caster-kill. Thus, my meta-game approach naturally evolved to focus on assasinating the enemy 'caster or 'lock while protecting my own.
League game scenarios are a rather different animal. There are a number of different missions, but overall they revolve around board control. Of course, the secondary victory condition is 'caster-kill, so one can still win that way, but focusing on assassination at the expense of board control will often cost one the game. And by "one" I mean "me."
Let's consider a couple of examples. In my third league game, I faced a player named Mark running a Trollblood list. Borka Kegslayer led the way, supported by a Pyre Troll, a Dire Troll Mauler, a unit of Champions, Krielstone Bearers and a Fell-Caller. Mark deployed his army in the extreme north-east corner of the board in the tried-and-true "brick" configuration. I spread my force out accross the southern edge. Mark's fatal mistake, which he recognized immediately upon taking his first turn, was that the primary victory condition for this scenario was to score control points by occupying the 12" x 48" vertical quarters of the table, uncontested. Three points needed to win. The way he had deployed made it virtually impossible for him to win. It broke down like this:
Table:
Please forgive this crude representation of the battlefield - I only have MS Paint here at work.
Turn One, Round One: Widowmakers spread out to occupy zones 1 and 2. Everybody else advances forward. It goes without saying, but Vlad casts Blood of Kings.
Turn One, Round Two: Keg-Carrier activates and puts liquid courage on Borka so he can't be knocked down. Dire Troll Mauler attempts to throw Borka west so he can reach zone 2. Dire Troll misses his throw attempt. Borka runs, reaching the edge of zone 3. Pyre Troll runs after Borka. Rest of the army advances.
Turn Two, Round One: The forces of Khador more or less stay put, repositioning only slightly to make sure all four zones are occupied. I score 1 Control Point for zone 1 and 1 more for zone 2.
Turn Two, Round Two: Keg-Carrier again casts liquid courage on Borka. Pyre Troll advances and throws Borka west. Borka runs but fails to get into zone 1.
Turn Three, Round One: I do nothing. I score 1 control point for zone 1 and win the game.
Like Teddy KGB says: "Just like a young man, coming in for a quickie. I feel so unsatisfied..."
So I won that game due to a brain-fart by my opponent. We played again and I went aggressive, trying for 'caster-kill. I underestimated Borka's feat and ate some mace, but even so, I prefer a decisive outcome based on tactical prowess over a technical win. The point is that ignoring the primary victory condition of a scenario (intentionally or not) can be disasterous.
I took the lesson from that game, but I have had trouble making it work on the battlefield. I've found that when I focus on the scenario, I tend to leave myself exposed and suffer massive casualties. If I focus on assassination, I tend to lose by scenario. Thus my assesment that I suck at Warmachine.
I've lost two of my last three league games by scenario. I fought a good game against a Cygnar player whose name escapes me, and -almost- won, but he scrambled my Behemoth and the Mortar team just didn't have the legs to get within the control point necessary for the win. This left me overextended and my opponent was able to claim the control point instead, winning the game. I beat a Gorten force, played by Mario, by scenario, but largely because he was confused about how the scenario rules worked. Again, unsatisfying.
Last night I was cut apart by Parker, currently the top ranked league player in our store. He brought Legion of Everblight led by Saeryn, supported by a Seraph, a Harrier, 3 Shredders, the Forsaken a unit of Striders, Gudrun the Wanderer, a unit of Bog Trogs and 5 Incubi. I'm actually embarrassed about my performance in this game. I was just stupid. I deployed foolishly and was never able to work up any momentum. Scenario was very similar to the one I played against Mark, where one has to capture table quarters; variation: one cannot get a control point from the same quarter twice. Here's how it broke down:
Table:
I really ought to have deployed both mortars on the left flank all the way in the backfield to bomb on the Striders. The widowmakers also should have been a bit farther back and accompanied by Kell. The Doomreavers should have been deployed more toward the center nearer to Vlad.
Turn One, Round One: Parker ran Gudrun into melee with the Widowmakers, Striders ran into combat with Kell. Beasts, Forsaken and Saeryn advance into position on the central hill.
Turn One, Round Two: I was going to do Shock & Awe, and so I gave the Behemoth one focus to the cortex and two to the sub-cortex. Kell managed to kill the Strider engaging him, and was of course, subsequently nommed by the Incubi inside it. The Doomreavers shuffled around Gudrun, being careful to stay more than 3" from the Widowmakers to avoid frightening them. The Doomreavers were made of fail and couldn't manage to hit Gudrun once. The widowmaker engaged by Gudrun backed off and was cut in half by the freestrike, the rest of the Widowmakers backed off. I lost my nerve here and instead of executing Shock & Awe I wussed out and decided to engage the Striders with the Behemoth. Vlad cast Signs & Portents and neglected to move; 'doh! Mortar team on the left wanted to fire at the Striders, but they were all within the minimum range of 8" and thus were not a legal target. The left Mortar team instead lobbed a shot at Saeryn, hoping for a good deviation that was not forthcoming. The Behemoth advanced into melee range with a Strider, boosted to hit and splattered the elf, who subsequently spawned an Incubi. The Behemoth's second strike pulverized the Incubi. The Behemoth dropped two bombards on the Striders, managing to kill one more. The resulting Incubi raced forward and chomped one of the Mortar team. They passed their command check, for all that was worth. The right Mortar team fired at the Striders but failed to connect. The Manhunter ran around the plateau on the right.
Turn Two, Round One: Seraph slipstreams Harrier and advances. Harrier runs forward, engaging the Doomreavers. Saeryn advances and casts Blightbringer on the Harrier, killing four Doomreavers. Forsaken and Shredders advance. Striders advance, skirting the Behemoth. Incubi eats remaining Mortar crew. Gudrun advances toward the widowmakers. Parker scores 1 control point for the far right zone.
Turn Two, Round Two: Behemoth gets two focus to the cortex. Manhunter advances around the plateau. Behemoth advances into the Striders, boosts to hit and kills two, resulting in one Incubi. Behemoth forgets to fire bombards. Widowmakers advance. One within 5" of the remaining Strider takes a shot but misses. Second shoots at Incubi in melee with the Behemoth, missed the Incubi, hits the Behemoth but inflicts no damage. Third Widowmaker fires at the Incubi that ate the Mortar crew but misses. Vlad casts Blood of Kings, advances and slices up the Mortar killing Incubi. He lobs a Razor Wind at the Incubi that killed Kell, but misses - seeing a theme here yet? The remaining Doomreavers advance. One engages the Harrier and the other engages Gudrun. Both miss.
Turn Three, Round One: Strider shoots Widowmaker Kapitan in her good eye and the remaining troopers route. Gudrun slays Doomreaver engaging him. Harrier casts Truestrike animus, flies over the plateau and eats the Manhunter. Seraph casts Slipstream, advances and pulls Saeryn toward the sole remaining Doomreaver. Saeryn advances and kills the Doomie with a THROWN KNIFE. Parker scores control points for the left and far left quarters, winning the game.
Urgh, massive fail for me.
I'm playing again this Sunday. I'll be facing a Pirate army for the first time, but it will also be the first time the Pirate player brings that force to the field. Should be entertaining at least :) I'll also likely play a non-league game against a different Legion player. I'm weakest against Legion so that will be good practice.
I've been on a bit of a losing streak lately and it has really driven home some critical weaknesses in my Warmachine mojo. To writ, I have a had a hard time balancing scenario objectives.
Part of this can be attributed to the fact that, up until joining the league, the only scenario I ever played was 'caster-kill. Thus, my meta-game approach naturally evolved to focus on assasinating the enemy 'caster or 'lock while protecting my own.
League game scenarios are a rather different animal. There are a number of different missions, but overall they revolve around board control. Of course, the secondary victory condition is 'caster-kill, so one can still win that way, but focusing on assassination at the expense of board control will often cost one the game. And by "one" I mean "me."
Let's consider a couple of examples. In my third league game, I faced a player named Mark running a Trollblood list. Borka Kegslayer led the way, supported by a Pyre Troll, a Dire Troll Mauler, a unit of Champions, Krielstone Bearers and a Fell-Caller. Mark deployed his army in the extreme north-east corner of the board in the tried-and-true "brick" configuration. I spread my force out accross the southern edge. Mark's fatal mistake, which he recognized immediately upon taking his first turn, was that the primary victory condition for this scenario was to score control points by occupying the 12" x 48" vertical quarters of the table, uncontested. Three points needed to win. The way he had deployed made it virtually impossible for him to win. It broke down like this:
Table:
Please forgive this crude representation of the battlefield - I only have MS Paint here at work.
Turn One, Round One: Widowmakers spread out to occupy zones 1 and 2. Everybody else advances forward. It goes without saying, but Vlad casts Blood of Kings.
Turn One, Round Two: Keg-Carrier activates and puts liquid courage on Borka so he can't be knocked down. Dire Troll Mauler attempts to throw Borka west so he can reach zone 2. Dire Troll misses his throw attempt. Borka runs, reaching the edge of zone 3. Pyre Troll runs after Borka. Rest of the army advances.
Turn Two, Round One: The forces of Khador more or less stay put, repositioning only slightly to make sure all four zones are occupied. I score 1 Control Point for zone 1 and 1 more for zone 2.
Turn Two, Round Two: Keg-Carrier again casts liquid courage on Borka. Pyre Troll advances and throws Borka west. Borka runs but fails to get into zone 1.
Turn Three, Round One: I do nothing. I score 1 control point for zone 1 and win the game.
Like Teddy KGB says: "Just like a young man, coming in for a quickie. I feel so unsatisfied..."
So I won that game due to a brain-fart by my opponent. We played again and I went aggressive, trying for 'caster-kill. I underestimated Borka's feat and ate some mace, but even so, I prefer a decisive outcome based on tactical prowess over a technical win. The point is that ignoring the primary victory condition of a scenario (intentionally or not) can be disasterous.
I took the lesson from that game, but I have had trouble making it work on the battlefield. I've found that when I focus on the scenario, I tend to leave myself exposed and suffer massive casualties. If I focus on assassination, I tend to lose by scenario. Thus my assesment that I suck at Warmachine.
I've lost two of my last three league games by scenario. I fought a good game against a Cygnar player whose name escapes me, and -almost- won, but he scrambled my Behemoth and the Mortar team just didn't have the legs to get within the control point necessary for the win. This left me overextended and my opponent was able to claim the control point instead, winning the game. I beat a Gorten force, played by Mario, by scenario, but largely because he was confused about how the scenario rules worked. Again, unsatisfying.
Last night I was cut apart by Parker, currently the top ranked league player in our store. He brought Legion of Everblight led by Saeryn, supported by a Seraph, a Harrier, 3 Shredders, the Forsaken a unit of Striders, Gudrun the Wanderer, a unit of Bog Trogs and 5 Incubi. I'm actually embarrassed about my performance in this game. I was just stupid. I deployed foolishly and was never able to work up any momentum. Scenario was very similar to the one I played against Mark, where one has to capture table quarters; variation: one cannot get a control point from the same quarter twice. Here's how it broke down:
Table:
I really ought to have deployed both mortars on the left flank all the way in the backfield to bomb on the Striders. The widowmakers also should have been a bit farther back and accompanied by Kell. The Doomreavers should have been deployed more toward the center nearer to Vlad.
Turn One, Round One: Parker ran Gudrun into melee with the Widowmakers, Striders ran into combat with Kell. Beasts, Forsaken and Saeryn advance into position on the central hill.
Turn One, Round Two: I was going to do Shock & Awe, and so I gave the Behemoth one focus to the cortex and two to the sub-cortex. Kell managed to kill the Strider engaging him, and was of course, subsequently nommed by the Incubi inside it. The Doomreavers shuffled around Gudrun, being careful to stay more than 3" from the Widowmakers to avoid frightening them. The Doomreavers were made of fail and couldn't manage to hit Gudrun once. The widowmaker engaged by Gudrun backed off and was cut in half by the freestrike, the rest of the Widowmakers backed off. I lost my nerve here and instead of executing Shock & Awe I wussed out and decided to engage the Striders with the Behemoth. Vlad cast Signs & Portents and neglected to move; 'doh! Mortar team on the left wanted to fire at the Striders, but they were all within the minimum range of 8" and thus were not a legal target. The left Mortar team instead lobbed a shot at Saeryn, hoping for a good deviation that was not forthcoming. The Behemoth advanced into melee range with a Strider, boosted to hit and splattered the elf, who subsequently spawned an Incubi. The Behemoth's second strike pulverized the Incubi. The Behemoth dropped two bombards on the Striders, managing to kill one more. The resulting Incubi raced forward and chomped one of the Mortar team. They passed their command check, for all that was worth. The right Mortar team fired at the Striders but failed to connect. The Manhunter ran around the plateau on the right.
Turn Two, Round One: Seraph slipstreams Harrier and advances. Harrier runs forward, engaging the Doomreavers. Saeryn advances and casts Blightbringer on the Harrier, killing four Doomreavers. Forsaken and Shredders advance. Striders advance, skirting the Behemoth. Incubi eats remaining Mortar crew. Gudrun advances toward the widowmakers. Parker scores 1 control point for the far right zone.
Turn Two, Round Two: Behemoth gets two focus to the cortex. Manhunter advances around the plateau. Behemoth advances into the Striders, boosts to hit and kills two, resulting in one Incubi. Behemoth forgets to fire bombards. Widowmakers advance. One within 5" of the remaining Strider takes a shot but misses. Second shoots at Incubi in melee with the Behemoth, missed the Incubi, hits the Behemoth but inflicts no damage. Third Widowmaker fires at the Incubi that ate the Mortar crew but misses. Vlad casts Blood of Kings, advances and slices up the Mortar killing Incubi. He lobs a Razor Wind at the Incubi that killed Kell, but misses - seeing a theme here yet? The remaining Doomreavers advance. One engages the Harrier and the other engages Gudrun. Both miss.
Turn Three, Round One: Strider shoots Widowmaker Kapitan in her good eye and the remaining troopers route. Gudrun slays Doomreaver engaging him. Harrier casts Truestrike animus, flies over the plateau and eats the Manhunter. Seraph casts Slipstream, advances and pulls Saeryn toward the sole remaining Doomreaver. Saeryn advances and kills the Doomie with a THROWN KNIFE. Parker scores control points for the left and far left quarters, winning the game.
Urgh, massive fail for me.
I'm playing again this Sunday. I'll be facing a Pirate army for the first time, but it will also be the first time the Pirate player brings that force to the field. Should be entertaining at least :) I'll also likely play a non-league game against a different Legion player. I'm weakest against Legion so that will be good practice.