pDenny and Siege dance a Tango

Well, they didn't really dance, but it was a fun game nonetheless. I even learned/was reminded of a few things either in this game or through thinking about it afterwards. Anyways, David and I had a good game full of proxies, botched rolls, and general splodiness. The game actually took place almost a week ago now, so the details are getting fuzzy, bear with me.

So the lists: @ 35 pts.

Siege
- Charger
- Defender
ATGM + UA
- Defender
Min Precursor Knights + UA (proxied by Sword Knights+UA)
Strangeways (proxied by GMCA)
Reinholdt (proxied by Gorman)

Deneghra1
- Nightwretch
- Nightwretch
- Leviathan
Max McThralls + 3 Brutes (brutes = empty bases)
Necrosurgeon + stitches
Withershadow Combine
Necrotech+Scrap (Necrotech = cankerworm base)
3 more Scrappies
2x Pistol Wraith

Deployment:
Terrain was setup, and I won the dice roll, choosing to go first. I set up my Levi+Denny to sit up on the hill, with my incorporeal/stealth models gunning for the house on the other side. David set up on the opposite side, hiding both defenders behind the hedge to get +4 defense.


Round 1:
My Cryx forces quickly advance, most things running their full speed.

David runs his precursors up toward the ruins, advances his charger, and hides in his foxhole. *cough* sissy *cough* aaaaanyways.



Round 2:
Between the two pistol wraiths and the 3 combine members, I was able to take his precursor knights down to the std bearer and one soldier from 8 models. Gaining soul tokens on each model thanks to their special rules. McThralls ran again as well. Scrap Thralls close in on Cygnaran forces as they sweep in from the flanks.

David's ATGM sweeps around the side of the hedge to help his defenders/Siege wipe out the thrall horde. Sadly, he does a good job of it.



Round 3:
My forces are now separated, and I'm not a fan of the large open space between those Defender's and me that I will have to cross. I decide to swing my forces on the hill over to the ruins in an attempt to gain some cover for a turn to close the gap. I also manage to wreck the charger with the boosted PW shots and maybe hellfires from the Combine. My first arc node was wrecked I think by a combo of Siege plus the charger last turn. This turn I tried to destroy the ATGM using Crippling Grasp + Venom, but it probably was not the best idea to risk my arc node here. Several (3+) ATGM models survive due to their def of 15, grr.

David's Defenders wreck my arc node and the Scrappies die to Siege as he backs away into a new foxhole...sissy again! lol. Twas the smart play tho. He saves his feat for the possiblity of destroying the Levi or Denny.



Round 4:
I move Denny forward, pop the feat, and try to nail him with the Leviathan...to no avail. Having no arc nodes, I concede due to the large empty space between his shooters and me... assination failed. :(



Things that I learned/was reminded of:
1) Make up your mind. When I switched Denny + the Levi from one flank to another, I left my McThralls hanging out to dry, just soaking up shots... not a good idea. If I had switched Denny and the Levi a turn earlier when the McThralls weren't in range of everything, it probably would not have mattered as much.
2) Threat Saturation. Cryx survives the ranged battle by relatively high defense and threat saturation. If they have to deal with several threats in one turn, they won't be able to get them all. The threats that survive will make those poor low arm ranged units pay.
3) Risk vs. Benefit. Is the risk of losing that piece of mine worth the chance of taking out that model/unit? If it's your last arc node and you're not gunning for the assassination/scenario victory, then the answer should be no.

Thoughts for David:
1) Make use of the runeshot that the ATGM officer grants that Defender. He coulda been sniping the whole game with a range of a bajillion. Or even critical brutal damage to tear apart all those hard armor cryx targets, lol.

2) Watch those threat ranges. I'm beginning to think that Shieldwall may not be all that it's cracked up to be, but I would have just advanced the precursors and shieldwalled them up the field, especially vs. the pow 10's and 12's that they were facing.

Overall:
*shrug* live and learn. T'was fun regardless. Plus two losses in a row instigate me to try harder for next time. Too bad for David that he reminded me of my lack of playing Goreshade after I lost. I didn't want to be a bastard and play the Bastard and risk frightening David off the game. Now that that's out, I have free reign to play the Bastard! Watch out for that fully painted list to show up here sometime in the next 2 weeks.