100 Ashlynn1 FitD vs Lukas1 PM
08.09.2021
For my 100th blog match I got the opportunity to get a rematch against Lukas1, but against another opponent. I had spent some time thinking about the Mercs matchup since the previous game and decided to try a small variation of the Ashlynn1 Flames list I have been playing earlier. My opponent brought a similar list to my previous opponent, just swapping failed experiments and one Railless Interceptor with a full unit of Trancers and two more Liberators.
Mercenary – Ashlynn1 flame
Theme: Flame in the Darkness
Ashlynn d’Elyse – WJ: +29
– Toro – PC: 13 (Battlegroup Points Used: 13)
– Gallant – PC: 17 (Battlegroup Points Used: 16)
Grand Master Gabriel Throne – PC: 7
Savio Montero Acosta – PC: 0
Alexia, The Undying – PC: 5
– Thrall Warrior
Hermit of Henge Hold – PC: 5
Morrowan Archon – PC: 8
Thamarite Archon – PC: 8
Thamarite Archon – PC: 8
Glyn Cormier, Illuminated One – PC: 5
Legion of Lost Souls – Leader & 9 Grunts: 18
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
Order of Illumination Vigilants – Leader & 4 grunts: 10
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
– Morrowan Battle Priest – PC: 0
Crucible Guard – Lukas1 PM
Theme: Prima Materia
Aurum Legate Lukas di Morray – WJ: +29
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc – PC: 0
– Aurum Ominus Alyce Marc (Big Alyce)
– Vindicator – PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 15)
– Vindicator – PC: 15 (Battlegroup Points Used: 14)
– Liberator – PC: 10
– Liberator – PC: 10
– Liberator – PC: 10
Railless Interceptor – PC: 16
Death Archon – PC: 8
Death Archon – PC: 8
Trancer – PC: 0
Trancer – PC: 0
Trancer – PC: 0
Trancer – PC: 0
Ascendant Mentalist – PC: 4
Ascendant Mentalist – PC: 4
Gorman Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist – PC: 4
Deployment
I win deployment and happily take the first turn. Judging from the previous game vs Lukas1 I know that he will be able to project a lot of threat if I let him go first. My opponent reluctantly takes the side with the obstruction, mostly because he didn’t want for us to move our models. In hindsight we both agreed that the opposite side would have been a better choice for my opponent.
Turn 1A
I try to spread out not to give my opponent great AoE shots or Trancer slams. I probably spend i little bit too much time trying to set up shield guard chains. As my opponent pointed out he would rather just miss and hope for good scatters.
Turn 1B
Considering his options my opponent concludes that it would not be worth to risk triggering vengeance just for some AoE shots and Trancer slams. Instead, he sets up a cloud wall and stays away from most of my threat ranges. It would be interesting to re-play the game from this point and see what would have happened if he had gone for the more aggressive play. If he can file away the 4-5 models in the front it would to a large degree counteract the 3” I would gain from Vengeance. It is only the Vigilants who have True Sight due to Glyn Cormier (plus Thamarite archons) so the LoLs can be controlled with the Lukas cloud wall if he activates last. But of course there is also a chance that everything falls apart and he just ends up triggering Vengeance without killing much at all.
Turn 2A
This turn I need to choose if I want to go in and jam with a purely defensive feat or if I want to try to set up defensively and hold my feat for one more turn. Normally my preference would be to hold for one turn because it is my best way to deal with the Def skew with Mentalist, Ashen Veil and Burning ash which I struggled with so much in the Irusk2 game. But on the other hand I am playing against a TK caster and I don’t see any very obvious way to set up in a way that doesn’t just give away three points straight away.
So I go for the feat and jam plan. My biggest problem is that with 3” reach on the Death Archons I need to keep most of my army completely within 9” of Ashlynn. Therefore the jam doesn’t end up being as aggressive as I had hoped for. I give the vigilants Stir the Blood and charge in one dude on the front Liberator and run in another to set up Gang and to ensure that I have at least one model to contest his flag. This deals some damage to the jack of course, but in hindsight it would have been much better to keep the Vigilants back within 9” (maybe run one up to the flag) and instead prioritised to put up Heroic Call on the LoLS to give them tough.
The red Thamarite archon shoots off the Trancer on the leftmost flag. The green Thamarite moves to within 12”, but misses the Trancer in cover. In hindsight I should have moved up a bit further so I wouldn’t be pushed out of range by Poltergeist. This is a mistake I have made many times in the past so it is about time that I learn!
Turn 2B
Liberators clear out the jam and the Vindicators plus railless shoot off a decent number of LoLS from outside my feat. Unfortunately for Lukas he misses a TK on a Vigilant, which costs him one of the louds. This means that he will only be able to put up two clouds in front of the Liberators. Mentalists provide -2DEF and one of the Death Archon Mortal Fears.
A Trancer scores the enemy flag while my opponent is unable to contest my flag.
Score 1-1
Turn 3A
Throne charges in to kill one of the Mentalist and the Morrowan Arhon kills the other. Gallant, Vigilants and LoLs finish off the two Liberators in front. I may have overcommitted a bit on the right side and could have prioritised one or two LoLS on the objective instead of having to redirect the charge.
The red Thamarite archon aims and shoots off the Trancer on the flag. The green archon moves over to clear the cover, but misses his two shots on the Trancer on the left. Acosta scores the left flag.
Score 3-1
Turn 3B
One Death Archon alone clears off all my models in the center. I should probably have tried to be a bit more conservative with my commitment. On the left side my opponent shoots out Acosta, but in a miraculous way the Thrall Warrior from Alexia3 manages to survive and still contest the flag. Gorman scores the far flag, but my once more my opponent is unable to contest my flag.
Score 4-2
Turn 4A
The Thrall warrior surviving means that I only need to clear the objective, kill Gorman and run up Glyn Cormier to score the opponent flag.
Score 7-2
Victory for the Mercenaries!
:: Evaluation ::
I was lucky to have the Thrall Warrior survive and continue to contest the flag, but I would still be in a good scenario position going into the end game. My opponent had considered going for assassination, so we rolled it out. He rolled pretty well and would have gotten the kill. I noticed that I had two Battle Priests far away from Ashlynn, so that was a good learning point for me to keep in mind for later games.
I was happy with the way the defensive feat played out and how I blocked off my back flag. But I lost too many infantry units on my feat turn and to the Death archon due to overcommitting on the Liberators.