24.04.2022 – 2d6 Steamroller 2022-2, Game 1
It is time for another Steamroller and I am playing Ossrum / Fiona. Ossrum is a given to at least have a tiny bit of hope against CG and Retribution, but leading up to the tournament I have been considering to play Thexus as my off-list. Fiona has some annoying blind spots and I don’t want my lists to be so telegraphed against shooting. Thexus helps with this, but in the end I figure that I can’t play two lists with low damage output in a world which includes Karchev2.
My first opponent is playing Vindictus / Feora4, both in FM. There is no way I can play Fiona into Vindictus so I just have to try my luck with Ossrum. My opponent does indeed choose Vindictus so we are off to a challenging start of the tournament.
Ossrum1
- 4x Driller
- Rockram
- Basher
- 2x Gunner
Kayazy Eliminators
Dez&Gubbin
Eiryss1
Gudrun2
Kell
Lanyssa
Harlowe
Eilish
Anastasia
Schythe
vs
Vindictus
- 2x Sanctifier
Idrians + UA
2x Initiates
Book1
Vilmon
2x Champions
2x Menite Archons
Min Choir
Hand of Silence
Deployment
Opponent gets the first turn. My deployment line is missing from the picture, but can be seen in the Turn 1A picture. I go for the Magical Weapons objective so that Dez can shoot on the feat turn or alternatively as a way for the Rockram to KD an Admonition’ed target through Passage.
Turn 1A
Opponent puts up Defender’s Ward on the Idrians and run up making sure that everything is within 5” and 10” of the Archons and shield guards covering the important stuff. My opponent has been playing Faithful Masses for years and years and has this down to muscle memory and does not spend a lot of time setting up.
Turn 1B
I on the other hand spend quite a lot of time figuring out how to set up. I can’t start taking pot shots because that will only trigger abilities for my Menoth opponent. My choices are setting up aggressively and taking the Archons and Champions on the chin or try to set up defensively but giving up a lot of ground. Since my opponent has chosen the No Knockdown objective I decide that I can use the squalls to set up two drillers in fairly aggressive positions while still remaining safe, and then keep the rest of my army back. I have a bit of a challenge finding a spot for Dez which is within 4” of the objective and outside of charge range of the Champion. I ultimately find a way to block the charge lane between a Gun bunny and the objective itself.
All in all my setup looks pretty good, but I did spend a lot of time getting to this point so clock management is going to be a big factor for me this game.
Turn 2A
Opponent sets up again in a similar way as on the previous turn, but locking down more of the scenario zones. Idrians mini-feat, but Vindictus is not feating yet. The leftmost Sanctifier is staying inside the 13” threat of the forward Driller, but outside of the other. I probably should have put Lanyssa up behind the cloud to threaten to Hunter’s Mark a random bystander (battle group could always get Shielding from the Choir).
Turn 2B
It’s feat time for Ossrum. My goal is to send a fully loaded Driller into the Sanctifer on the left and to de-horse the Champion on the right. I would also like to snipe out the book, but I mess up Ossrum’s placement a bit and end up just within threat of the rightmost Archon. This means that I need to keep his book alive to block the vengeance lane. The Driller underperforms on the Sanctifier and rolls bad columns so it only loses its left arm.
Score 0-0
Turn 3A
I forget to take a picture of my opponent’s retaliation, but he feats and kills my Driller with the Sanctifier, Champion and a Menite Archon.
Score 0-0
Turn 3B
I do some shooting and send in another Driller to finish off the Sancifier and the Champion to clear the left zone. I pull the right side driller back, but can’t quite get into control range. Maybe I was too scared of the assassination and could have pushed the boss a bit more towards the right side.
Score 1-0
Turn 4A
The Sanctifier, Vilmon and a bunch of Idrians come crashing into the center and kill the Driller and my objective, but luckily for me they come just short on removing the Gunner. On the left side the grind continues, but my Driller is somehow still standing.
Score 1-1
Turn 4B
I keep grinding, but don’t clear any zones. Ossrum starts moving towards the right side. Honestly I think I should have ran this turn because I can’t remember that he did anything useful.
Score 1-1
Turn 5A
The driller on the left goes down, but the Basher and Eliminator unit remain in the zone. In the center zone everything is removed except the Rockram.
Score 1-1
Turn 5B
I kill the Idrians on the right side, but have nothing to score with. Ossrum is slowly running over, but it will be another turn until he is there.
Score 1-1
Turn 6A
The Archons and HoS manage to kill the Rockram and Dez, but Eiryss is still standing in the center zone. One of the Eliminators is holding down the left zone.
We are keeping track of rounds just using a d6 and somehow we manage to lose track and both agree that it is the last round.
Score 1-1
Turn 6B
I clear the right zone and run in Ossrum to score with 13 seconds left on the clock.
Score 2-1
Victory for the Mercenaries!
:: Evaluation ::
This was a great game and I was really happy to get the victory in the end. I didn’t realize that we had messed up the round counters until writing up the battle report. Had we played for another turn I would have clocked out for sure and even with unlimited time the best case scenario for me would be a 4-4 tie, in which case my opponent would probably still have won by army points destroyed. My opponent was a great sport about the loss and I went on to the winner’s bracket like a sheep in wolf’s clothing.