Orion72
Underboss
1917 Posts
    
 | | 06/28/2006 9:04 AM |
| I've been posting alot in the skirmish thread about variance and luck, saying that it all evens out. That might be true, but last night I was definitely on a hot streak, and it made a low-variance band very easy to play.
I tried out a new commander for my LE Quad - you ready for this?
Mind Flayer (Harbinger): CFX - enemies morale save at -4
HH
Doogie Champ x2
Zak Rak
DM Monk
War Skellie
on Drowtpost
I don't know how this guy has fallen between the cracks - 35 pts for a Commander 4 and a Stun cone every round? And enemies morale at -4? He's like 2 Wardrummers with Stuns! He's too squishy to tie a Chraal to, but for an LE Quad without Chraals, he's a great fit. He only Stunned one creature each match, but they were all important creatures: H-Og Barb, WFBG, Sword Archon.
This is also the first time I've been able to fit a DMM into my Quad, and she's a nice piece of tech support. She can do something useful every round, even if it's just grabbing a VA until the Skellie gets there.
The luck factor: my rolls were pretty average all night, but my opponents missed a few very key rolls -
- Couatl rallying under CoLathander, needs a 3+, rolled a 2 and fled offboard (game winning roll);
- Kord rolled 2 (or 3?) consecutive 1s on my Doogies
- the only crit against me all night missed Conceal
- one Doogie took out 2 Watchers by making all 4 Incorp checks: smack, smack, Cleave, smack on AoO
- Sword Archon, lvl 12, failed a DC 17 Stun
I faced Commander 4s in each game, played on my map once, chose my side once, and was about 50/50 on initiatives.
Match 1: vs Jason on Drowtpost
Brass Sam, Rask, H-Og Barb, Go Barb, Steelheart, Graycloak, T-Wolf, Wild Elf
I made tactical errors, including one huge blunder that cost me my commander; lost the Flayer, one Doogie and the Zak; and still won with points to spare. How? High attacks vs low ACs. I don't think I missed a single attack on his beaters.
We both headed for the bridge, with his guys spread out to avoid cones. I won init on the engagement round, killed the Wild Elf and Cleaved into the Wolf (who rolled 17 on morale!), then killed the Wolf and Cleaved into the H-Og Barb. The H-Og Barb Whirlwinded 3 of my beaters, but missed alot. Then I almost threw away the game - I moved my Flayer up next to the bridge to get off a Stun cone. I thought he was safe, but the GoBarb stepped up and proved me wrong. Next round, the Flayer was dead. His Brass Sam performed well, catching all my guys in her Breath, giving Whirlwind to his beaters, but sadly missing most of her attacks on the HH. It was beat-counterbeat until at last he was left with just his Brass Sam and archers against the HH and Doogie. The HH wedged himself between both archers, flanking be damned, while the Doogie polished off the B Sam.
1-0
Second match: vs. Dakota on Mithril Mines
Kord, Couatl, WFBG, CoLath, Aramil, Commoner, Watcher
This isn't a bad map for me either. My Zak was able to run around the center and Turn the SW on the second round. Engagement rounds - Kord and WFBG plugged a hallway with spellcasters behind them, vs my HH and Doogies. I managed to get off a cone that Stunned the WFBG, and capitalized on it by piling on Kord. My CFX cancelled out his Commander, leaving Kord morale checking at +10. He failed and fled. Then an enfeebled Zak managed to work around and hit Aramil - he also fled. The CoL had to run around a corner to rally those two, and I was able to morale check the Couatl - he needed a 15, didn't get it, and fled. Funny story, I needed to do 5 points to force morale. All I had left was DMM with true strike. She rolled a 1! Second attack, she rolled an 18 and just hit to provoke morale.
In the last round, Dakota was 5 points up on me with all his guys routing. The CoL rallies his troops at +8 with his CFX, and my Flayer was too far away to counter with his CFX. After much internal debate, he | | | |
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