Battle Report: 35 point pThags+ vs. eGaspy

Yet another vassal game that I'm posting a battle report for. This one is slightly more documented than any other game I've played, but it helps that I played against myself. I was again testing out the new version of pThaggy suggested by Warcaster Kirin Folkenon the PPforums.

pThaggy+:

1) Feat: Dark Revival

You may remove all damage on a warbeast that is part of this model's battlegroup or return one destroyed warbeast that was part of this model's battlegroup to play anywhere completely within 3" of Thagrosh. The warbeast brought back to play must forfeit its action this turn. The warbeast affected by Dark Revival gains +2 ARM for a turn.

2) Increase CMD to 10 (this helps Death Shroud out), and its Thagrosh.. Avatar of Everblight.
3) Athanc - After leaching, this model gains 1 fury point if it has fewer fury points than its FURY, or May heal 1 damage point.
4) Swap out Obliteration for Rift

pThags⁺ Vs. eGaspy

The Lists:

LoB:

Thagrosh, Prophet of Everblight -5

Shredder +2

Angelius +9

Carnivean +11

Legionnaires (10) +6

Warmongers (3) +6

Blighted Nyss Shepherd +1

Incubus +5

Cryx:

Lich Lord Ashpyxious -6

Deathripper +4

Defiler +5

Deathjack +12

Bane Knights (10) +10

Bile Thralls (6) +5

Bane Lord Tartarus +4

Necrotech & 1 Scrap Thrall +1

Roll for Deployment: LoB (1), Cryx (2)

Deploy1: Cryx

Cryx choose to go first and deploys on the North Side as shown below.

The intent here is to make whatever Legion uses to counter the BK’s have to travel through the forest first turn, hopefully limiting their movement/LOS enough that they cannot charge me back in the first turn. My models that are affected by terrain and LOS will then get to play in the middle with whatever LoB brings through.

Deploy2: LoB

Well, seeing the BK position, and knowing that they can decimate whatever I put in front of them, I opt to have the Legionnaires cover that half of the board and spawn incubi to help kill off the pesky BK’s. Also, the Angel deploys against them due to eyeless sight/wings allowing for him to either pick of BLT or get a charge off on the BK’s and overtake/buy atks thru them. The Carni, Warmongers, and Thaggy are set to face off against the DJ and bile thralls, especially nice for the multiwound mongers to face the corrosion sacks. The Shepherd is following the Angel in case he gets out of Thaggy’s ctl area.

Turn1: Cryx

The Defailer runs up in preparation to arc spells at the tasty conglomeration of blighted meat while the Banes and Tartarus run towards the forest. The rest of the army follows as fast as space/SPD stats allow. Gaspy then drops down 3 clouds to protect his army from any ranged or magic attacks this turn.

.

Turn2: LoB

There are two things to keep in mind this turn. Everything will be in spell rng of Gaspy’s first node by next turn, and probably spray range of the Defailer as well. This is important for my formations this turn because DeathKnell will absolutely ruin the Legionnaires. Excarnate can take out one easily enough as well to help swell the Cryxian ranks of Banes or Biles. Additionally, if BLT can see it, chances are the BK’s will be able to charge it. This means that I want to put my Angel to keep at least 3.5" of forest between him and the BK’s. Also, any attempts at using Mutagenesis and laying waste to infantry can only be done if there is LOS blocking charges from Gaspy/DJ as either of those will ruin Thaggy's day.

Warmongers and Legionnaires both advance and spread out to avoid the AOE goodness that comes from Gaspy. Thaggy bolsters the Legionnaires with a Draconic Blessing as well as shrouding his army with a Fog of War. The Angel carefully advances through the forest to shoot at Tartarus, but to no avail as he is just outside of range. Beastly animi abound this turn as well.

Turn3: Cryx

Hopefully I can keep my front "sacrificial node" safe for one more round to get some use out of it against the bulk of the Legion army. Other than that, it's just time for some typical Cryxian goodness (ie attempting to get a good Bile purge + setting up to get either the charge/vengeance moves out of the Banes).

The Defailer walks up on top of the hill to get a better view of things, and while he's up there, decides to spray some sludge at the lead Legionnaires. The surviving front Legionnaires are finished off by the ever popular Bile Thrall Purge, almost reminiscent of a high school girl's bathroom. The Banes just advance this turn as they wait for their chance to unleash hell. The DJ and Gaspy bring up the rear of the column, with more smoke being dropped to hide the Cryxian advance.

Turn 4: LoB

Thoughts: Another turn without LOS to his arcnode or army is annoying, plus those clouds blocking where my Legionnaires can move with their Vengeance move is annoying. With how far the Banes have moved up, I can probably charge them with both the Angel and the Legionnaires after they have their Vengeance move. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to take out most of the Banes and Tartarus this turn.

The Angel charges the Banes and is able to take out 3 Banes, but only 3 Legionnaires are able to get LOS and charge. Thaggy is unsure at this point what is the best idea to do, but he casts Fog of War again just for kicks.

Turn 5: Cryx

Well, I get Vengeance moves out of my Banes, so they can really lay the hurt onto the Angel and Legionnaires, but then there will be Incubi to deal with. Legionnaires are just outside of Abomination range from the DJ, so no terror checks this turn. The best idea is to lay Gaspy’s Soul Reaper template on the Legionnaires and gather as many souls as possible. Also, Gaspy needs to move as far forward as is safe, and camp some focus to survive the inevitable Incubi. The Angel needs to be killed also to protect Gaspy for the turn. Probably something that can be done with BK’s and the DJ, especially since BK’s get their Vengeance move.

The Vengeance move/attacks from the Banes do some sizable damage to the Legionnaires, but Gaspy hasn't activated so he doesn't get these souls. The Biles move forward in a ring to prevent/reduce any direct charges to Gaspy from the Incubi. When he does activate, Gaspy drops his Soul Reaper template on the remaining Legionnaires before Tartarus charges to create 4 more Banes. Gaspy also remembers to protect his lonely little arc node this turn too. The DJ charges the Angelius to eat him alive, but alas, there was no soul to be found. The Banes surrounded the Incubi spawns in order to minimize that damage and also provide some good feat fodder. Some Banes make it down to Warmonger territory and put down

Turn6: LoB
Things are getting interesting now... It doesn't seem like there is a great chance for Legion to win this game unless pThags can get in Gaspy's face with fury leftover, or if the soon to be resurrected Angel can survive the retaliation to do what Angel's do best.

Since Thaggy leeched off all the Angel's fury, that leave the Carni with 1. Of course this is the perfect time to roll a 9...guuuuuhhhhreat. Guess Thaggy doesn't have a shot at breaking thru to Gaspy this turn, so attrition it is.

The Shredder makes a valiant sacrifice and walks up into the Carni's loving arms. In response to this kind gesture, the Carni does what the Carni does best....Suhwing and a miss! At least the Incubi kill BLT this turn, the Mongers kill some Banes, and even the Shepherd gets a piece of the action.

Thaggy backs up towards the Carni to help protect him with Spiny Growth, then pops his feat to return the Angel and give him Spiny Growth as well. Thinking about the total armor on these two beasts (Carni = 22 effective ARM in melee and the Angel at 23 effective ARM in melee), I actually feel relatively confident that one will survive, but the question remains on whether Thaggy will survive to watch over them.

Turn 7: Cryx
Here comes the big money. With Tartarus and plenty of Banes killed, there is a big fat check of extra Incorporeal dmg just waiting to be cashed in on. Considering the high armor of the Legion beasties, the DJ is probably the only thing that will be able to lay down any significant hurt on them. Plus Gaspy's feat is supposed to be a game ender, so going for the throat is a good idea, especially with all the extra focus flying around this turn. So much focus is in the cards this game that the DJ gets 5 focus and Gaspy still has 8 for himself...

The Biles move up out of Gaspy's way, and 2 of them find room to purge on and kill the Warmongers and Shredder, opening up room for the assination by Feat! Gaspy walks forward and throws Parasite on Thags to help counter that stupid -2 str aura. While he could teleport to safety, 4 focus is another boosted dmg spell which should help seal the deal to prevent the need for running away. So Gaspy drops a nice boosted Excarnate on Thaggy's face, which he meekly accepts in order to save his fury for Gaspy's feat. Speaking of which, Gaspy revives Tartarus and 9 of his favorite Banes to throw a "you know you want to be undead more than blighted" party for Thaggy. He wanted none of that though, surviving their beating without an extra pip of dmg done to him. The DJ has something he wants to say about that though. He may not have enough room to charge into the fray, but he does have 5 focus and Necromancy. Plus there is a metric crapton of models camping around Thags. The DJ then walks forward and drops down Death Knell on the Angel's head, for a whopping Pow 18 spell!

Now here is where the issue comes up, I think I've been playing this spell wrong all along, but only the model directly hit would take the Pow 18 dmg roll, the others in this case would take a pow 9.

Here's the text for thought:

Death Knell 4 8 4 10 No Yes
Before dealing damage, count the number of models in the AOE. Add the result to each Death Knell damage roll.

Anyways, I played it out both ways. If full dmg to Thaggy, he dies and Gaspy doesn't, but I don't think Gaspy is that lucky. With the Pow 9 dmg roll, Thaggy lives.
Turn 8: LoB

Well, still alive, so time to heal up and kill that undead lich.

Thaggy leaches off all the fury from the Angel and takes an extra from his Athanc. The Angel then forces to heal one body circle, charges Gaspy overtop of the Defailer (who utterly failed to do any dmg on the free strike, but it was with a bash attack, so it's understandable), and knocked the crap outta Gaspy with the boosted DMG AP attack. The 2nd bought attack actually hit, and the Angel kills of Gaspy by himself...sort of.
I'll post thoughts about pThags later, but I have to say that playing with myself was better than I thought it would be. There were a few spots where I think things could have gone better overall, but I definitely think that I played my Cryx army better and that pThags just kinda got lucky.

*shrug* It's late, and I don't really think I can be coherent for too much longer. Any suggestions/insights on how to play Thaggy better would be much appreciated from any other Legion players out there.