Broken Alliance – A 500pts Multiplayer Madness Battle Report!

The Format:

Each player is given a timer with a 30 min preset. This 30 minutes is all the player has for his turn(s) for the entire game. The one with the most VPs in the end wins!

The Scenario:

Captain Victoria Haley is forced into a temporary alliance with High Exemplar Kreoss to protect a sacred Menoth site from incursions by multiple forces from the Khadoran Empire, the Legion of Everblight, the Trollbloods, and even from Cygnar itself! Is it a devious ruse set up by the Iron Liches of Cryx?

The Players:

Arzmi:

Captain Victoria Haley

- Centurion

- Centurion

Journeyman Warcaster

Cygnar Trenchers (6) + UA

Cygnar Trenchers (6)

 

Khairul:

High Exemplar Kreoss

- Castigator

- Revenger

- Redeemer

Choir of Menoth (6)

Holy Zealots (10) + Monolith Bearer

High Paladin Dartan Vilmon

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

My zealots r in ur base, guarding ur trencherz

 

As luck would have it, Arzmi & Khairul (brothers) rolled to be the ones to be deployed in the middle, moving last. As compensation they would get an extra 30 points to build their list. Khairul hadn’t had a game in some time, so he was a little rusty.

They are required to forge an alliance which would last for an hour, after which all hell breaks loose.

 Geoffrey:

Captain E. Dominic Darius

- Centurion

- Thunderhead

- Ol’ Rowdy

- Squire

 

Alvin (Me):

Chief Madrak Ironhide

- Troll Impaler (Ponty)

- Troll Impaler (Jab)

- Troll Axer (Carnegie)

Trollkin Champions

Krielstone Bearer and Scribes (4) + Stone Scribe Elder

Fellcaller

Swamp Gobber Fog Bellows Crew

 

Jeffrey:

Vayl, Disciple of Everblight

- Carnivean

- Raek

- Seraph

Shepard

Blighted Swordsmen (6)

Raptors (3)

Swamp Gobber Fog Bellows Crew

 

Chris:

Butcher of Khardov

Man-o-War Kovnik

- Devastator

- Devastator

Battle Mechaniks (4)

- Destroyer

Chief Madrak Ironhide was uneasy with this ‘alliance’ from the beginning. The Kingdom of Cygnar were not on good terms with the Protectorate of Menoth, yet the female captain Haley had forged a temporary alliance with the exemplar Kreoss to guard a holy site. It was all alien to Madrak when Haley first approached him, yet the promise of much needed food and supplies in return for support by Madrak and his retinue, though too good to be true, was too good to pass up.

Arzmi, Khairul and I secretly decided to team up against Geoffrey, who at the time held the greatest threat on the board. My memory’s vague, so things may not have happened when I thought they did (I was sort of concentrated on my half).

Round 1

Geoffrey:

Darius casts Full Throttle and moves towards Arzmi and Khairul’s deployment.

Me:

Madrak Sure Foot’s and moves on the left flank towards Geoffrey’s deployment. Krielstone pops +2 ARM and Combat Warding and moves up. Swamp Gobbers pile a load of smoke in between a forest and a ruin, blocking LoS from Arzmi and Khairul. Just in case. Everything else runs towards Darius’ battlegroup.

Jeffrey:

The Legion runs towards the middle, getting ready to engage the trenchers.

Chris:

The Butcher splits his force in two, the MoW Kovnik and the Devastators heading towards the Legion, and the Mechaniks and the Destroyer moving towards the middle. Butcher can’t decide where to go and moves in between.

Arzmi:

Haley casts Temporal Barrier. Trenchers pop smoke. Fastest time ever.

Khairul:

Choir sings no shooty, Kreoss casts Lamentation. Eiryss moves from the trees and disruptor bolts Darius. Second fastest time ever.

Madrak saw something move between the trees not far off from his advancing kriel. Must be the mage hunter the Protectorate employed, Madrak thought to himself. A minute later a bout of cursing in a strong Cygnaran accent could be heard from beyond the next patch of trees. The enemy was very near. The sounds excited the Impaler Ponty. The troll started running towards the sound. ‘I must remind Grissel to keep her trolls under a leash!’ Madrak muttered under his breath. All three trolls he brought along was loaned from Grissel Bloodsong, and he has found it quite difficult to control them. He then ordered the trollkin to move faster behind Ponty.

Do not trussst them.

Madrak heard a voice in his head. He shook it off and attributed it to his general mistrust of humans. Just then he saw Ponty throw a spear at something.

Round 2

 Geoffrey:

Darius fires at Eiryss, managing to score a hit without focus! the rest of the group jostle into position for an imminent showdown with the trollblood.

Hungry Ponty looks at Darius. Fat, tasty Cygnar metal. Yum!

Me:

Ponty moves up the left flank, and takes a shot at Darius after the Far Strike animi. Hits, no crit, and no damage. Oops. The Champions move up for a counter attack. Carnegie and Jab take up the right flank, guarding both sides. Krielstone moves and does the +2 ARM and Combat Warding again. Madrak surefoots and moves up behind the Champs. Fellcaller runs. Gobbers move towards the left, but still fogs up the same area as last time.

 Jeffrey:

Raptors and Seraph sling shots in a vain attempt to thin out the trenchers. Vayl and the rest jostle and prepare to attack.

Chris:

Butcher changes battle plans. Everything moves towards the middle. Butcher hides in the bushes.

Arzmi:

Rinse repeat round 1

Khairul:

Rinse repeat round 1, sans Eiryss.

Ponty had no time to draw a second spear. There was a whirr of machinery behind the trees, and a moment later a massive warjack in blue, wielding a shield and spear charged straight at Ponty. The massive spear tore through the troll, lifting it off the ground by the impact. Madrak felt a raw surge of energy as the troll slid into bare consciousness. It would live, Madrak thought, and hopefully it would learn.

Madrak looked up at the warjack. It bore a distinct Cygnaran design. Cygnar! he thought. What was he doing on the flanks, defending Cygnar against their own? Without a second thought, he ordered the champions to attack.

Don’t trusssst them.

Round 3

Geoffrey:

Darius allocates focus to the Centurion, then cranes itand casts Full Throttle, which then proceeds to charge Ponty, puncturing her fat troll belly with its spear. Ol’ Rowdy stays where he is, and the Thunderhead moves behind the Centurion.

 

 

 

The Pewter Kriel attack!

Me:

 Champions move in and proceed to scratch the paint off the Centurion. D’Oh! I screw up my order of activation. Fellcaller moves behind the Champs and sings sweet nothings. Madrak Sure Foots then moves behind the Champ leader. The Krielstone, who was supposed to Stone Strength the Champs, does the +2ARM to prepare for the retaliation. Jab and Carnegie move up the right flank, positioned to handle any threat. The gobbers move up and juice up the area behind the Centurion.

  Jeffrey:

Seraph manages to kill off a couple of trenchers. Nothing else happens.

Chris:

MoW Kovnik slams his Devastator 6 inches. Butcher likes the bushes he’s in. Everything else slowly plods along.

Arzmi:

Trenchers blanket the front with smoke, blocking LoS from Chris and Geoffrey. Haley TBs again (maybe feats as well, since the trenchers engaging the Legion manage to thin down the legion). The trenchers in the back feat, and offs a few swordsmen, a Raptor and damage the Seraph.

 Khairul:

Zealots run towards the offending Legion. The Monolith Bearer pops his feat. Kreoss laments, and moves.

The fight between the trollkin and the massive Cygnaran warjack bore no fruit. The Kriel champions hadn’t yet managed to break past the thick armor plating. The silver lining was that the warjack hadn’t managed to hit the trollkin either. Just then another massive warjack lumbered into view. It crackled with lightning, and Madrak felt the damp forest air suddenly become denser. ‘Watch Out!’ Madrak yelled above the sound of battle, as the warjack purged forth tendrils of lightning. Madrak’s command was not in vain, as the trollkin escaped unscathed.

One heavy warjack was more than enough, two did not bode well. Madrak heard the sound of approaching heavy armor, and feared the worst. Something plodded into view. At first Madrak thought it was another warjack, but the visible head of a human in the hulking armor calmed his fears.

‘I am Captain Dominic Darius of the Cygnaran army. Stay your weapons!’ the human bellowed. Almost immediately the warjacks lowered their weapons. Madrak signalled for his retinue to do the same.

‘There has been a gross misunderstanding. I have been sent to stop Captain Victoria Haley.’ Darius spoke. ‘I am afraid she is not who you think she is.’ Madrak knew then of the ‘alliance’ was nothing but a machination. Of what, he did not know. He nodded in grim understanding and commanded the trollkin towards the sacred site. The promise was too good to be true, afterall.

Round 4

Geoffrey:

This is where things took a wild turn. Darius Full Throttles, gives focus to Centurion. The Centurion misses all but two attacks, which deal a total of 3 and 1 damage respectively to the Champions. Thunderhead moves up and pulses, and also proceeds to miss every single attack against, about 10-11 models. The clincher is that despite Full Throttle, he failed terribly on his turn. Ol’ Rowdy prepares himself.

I asked Arzmi and Khairul for help against Geoffrey. Arzmi just laughed and said I’d hold up well enough. Gasp! the treachery was a deafening blow! The Trollblood were duped once again!

Me:

I too, fail on my turn. Again I screw up activation. The Champs chip the Centurion, dealing good damage but destroying nothing. Madrak Sure Foots and moves to get better coverage. Everything else stays where they are. Jab moves a little (stays within Madrak’s control), Far Strikes and boosts to hit against the Castigator. Crits, Castigator falls over Choir Priest and Journeyman. Castigator gets 3 damage, Priest dies, and Journeyman lives on 2 wounds.

Looking at our poor position and the VPs racking up on the other side, Geoffrey and I decided to forge a temporary alliance, at least until we rid the board of Haley and Kreoss.

Jeffrey:

Raek moves into combat with a trencher and whiffs on the attack. The Seraph blows away a couple. Carnivean looms into view, ready for a countercharge. Vayl pops her feat.

Chris:

Destroyer bombard goes astray and doesn’t do anything. Everything jockeys into position. Butcher munches on the bushes.

Arzmi:

Pops smoke front arc. Haley TBs, trenchers not engaged dig in. We aren’t sure about his game plan.

Just then the PG declares the alliance over. Ookkayy…

Khairul:

Kreoss feats, nullifying Vayl’s feat. Castigator pumped full of focus gets up and bashes Haley into oblivion. Extra focus attacks kill off the journeyman and a trencher. The zealots bombard the Legion front, decimating the Raek, the swordsmen, killing off one Raptor and heavily damaging the Seraph. Vilmon kills something. Redeemer kills a trencher with a volley, and Revenger engages the Raptor

Madrak ran towards the sacred site, his flank covered by his retinue. A million questions surged through his head, but one was clearly at the forefront: What in Dhunia’s name is going on? An imposter in Cygnaran ranks?

In the distance he could see the familiar smoke of Cygnaran trenchers. To the left Madrak could see a contigent of Khadoran warjacks, one of which was firing bombards into the Cygnaran front. To the right he could see figures on giant reindeer firing salvos of arrows into the Protectorate army. And then a sound akin to a thousand boulders raining down from the skies jolted him. He could feel a tremor as the ground under the sacred site buckled and turned, and Cygnaran and Khadoran jacks alike topple like bricks. The smoke cleared, and Madrak could see a heavy Protectorate warjack chucking away a lifeless, smouldering body to the ground. A body donned in Cygnaran warcaster armor.

Do not trussst them.

Madrak grips tightly onto Rathrok and runs forward.

 My mind is a complete blank after this, so I’ll just do highlights.

Round 5

Geoffrey:

Darius Full Throttles. He moves up towards the middle. Ol’ Rowdy moves between the trees for a counter-charge. Thunderhead runs to the middle. Centurion disengages the Champions. As a sign of good faith, I did not take free strikes.

Me:

I run the champs to the middle. Madrak Sure Foots, and charges (to get extra speed). The Krielstone auras up and moves. Fellcaller runs, gobbers run as well. Jab jostles for position, as does Carnegie.

Jeffrey:

Vayl heals Seraph, which gets healed almost back to full thanks to the shepard beside it. The Seraph then vomits unholy blight into the zealots, but only manages to kill two. Carnivean gets up and tries to blight-breath a zealot to no avail. Raptors move , but before they could do anything, Jeffrey’s time runs out. Oh Noes!

Chris:

Butcher moves up and hacks an acolyte down. Destroyer misses again, but the blast drift kills a zealot. MoW Kovnik and Devastators trudge forward, ready to clean up the mess. One Devastator blows up on the Redeemer, disabling it (I think).

Arzmi:

Centurion #1 gets up and moves towards Ol’ Rowdy. Geoffrey countercharges and pounds it to the ground. (We tried to rule it off, but the PG wasn’t sure on the ruling). Second Centurion moves in and engages Ol’ Rowdy. Trenchers (only 2 left), move and pop smoke on Kreoss. (they were subjugated and converted without a choice)

 Khairul:

Kreoss canks one of the trenchers that helps him. Camps on 6 focus. Vilmon canks another. Castigator kills something. Something kills a Raptor.

Do not trust them.

The voice in Madrak’s head grew louder, clearer. Who? damn it! who? Madrak cursed in his mind. As he ran, he could see Darius and his battlegroup surging forward, a hammer-wielding warjack already engaging one of the imposters’ warjacks.

They will turn on you, like they always do.

Madrak stopped in his tracks. He spotted Captain Darius a short distance away, focused on commanding his towering warjacks. That will not happen Madrak thought. Ever again.

Madrak shouted to his Kriel. ‘Attack!’. The trollkin did not have to think twice. The order from their great chieftain was loud, clear, exact. The Fellcaller accompanying Madrak bellowed a deafening warcry, and the Champions bellowed their warcries in unison, and charged towards Captain Darius and his warjacks.

Geoffrey:

Darius casts Full Throttle and Jackhammer on Ol’ Rowdy. Ol’ Rowdy charges through the downed Centurion (again something we contested, but Geoffrey was adamant. We let it slide) at an acolyte, then jackhammered Kreoss (who was nearby) into oblivion. The jacks move up.

So here’s the scenario: What would you do, if your prime Axer and Impaler targets are taken, when they coudln’t or shouldn’t have been? by the very person you declared an alliance with? Exactly.

Me:

Treachery! Geoffrey screams out as the Champions charge Darius and engage the Centurion. This time I got my order of activation right. Fellcaller calls Warcry on the Champions, Krielstone pops the Stone Strength aura, Madrak Sure Foots and Guided Hand’s the Champions. The first 3 champions hack on the Centurion, taking out both arms (at P&S 16,17,18 they are bound to), but unable to disable it. The leader hacks on Darius on a charge, bringing him down to one life. The last Champ ends it, raining down P&S 20 + 3d6 on Darius. Just for kicks he swipes the Squire. Jab slams Ol’ Rowdy into the Castigator, much to Khairul’s glee. Carnegie moves up to the Centurion and finishes it off. The gobbers I stupidly put in front of the Devastator instead of smoking up the place.

In spite of the treachery, Geoffrey was kind enough to offer me his hand. That’s what you get for smack-talking the trolls. We need no heavy beast!

Chris:

Butcher finally commences slaughter. The other  players in the middle were already thinned out from the carnage, so they didn’t put up much of a fight. Devastator engaged by the gobbers move up and blow up near a Centurion, denting it, disabling Ol’ Rowdy and killing the gobbers in the process. MoW Kovnik hacks on something while the Destroyer lobs a bombard that does nothing much.

Arzmi:

Centurion pokes at Ol’ Rowdy. Hurts him some. The other Centurion moves off to engage a Raptor.

Khairul:

Castigator moves onto the Raptor, swings and misses. Revenger manages to kill off the Raptor.

In the end, Geoffrey’s Thunderhead tried to take a couple of swings at my Champs, but missed. After breaking apart the Thunderhead, I ended up bricking up with 3 seconds to spare. Chris proceeds to annihilate everything, racking up the VPs and winning (he beat Khairul by a couple of points). It was insane, and an insane format. But the important thing was that we had loads of fun.

So till next time…

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