OHS S56: Double Strike Pod Draft - CONGRATS CHRIS PERKINS

[Dysole]

I chose to pick first.

Chris banned Kal.

I picked Wyrmlings
He picked M-43s

I banned Nakitas

He picked Varks
I picked Sidhe and Brute Gruts

I didn't love it but I felt the Wyrmling and Nakita pods were the strongest on this map and if I let him have Nakitas into Varks he just leads Cathar and M-43s to kill as many Wyrmling as possible and then Nakitas just tear up on this map.

I led Wyrmlings and he led Varks. I lost a White and a Red but managed to take out all the Varks (except Arktos) and a Kozuke in the first round. I was in a good spot but managed much less success against M-43s. Once I got down to 3 Blacks he had about 5 M-43s and full life Soontir and Kira. I pivoted to Brute Gruts and lost one in the push. I had a prime opportunity to kill Kira and drop him down to 2 M-43s across an init switch and only manged to kill Kira. Chen moved forward and took 4 wounds in one hit from Arktos. After that, Chris cleaned up pretty handily. He won with 2 Kozuke, 2 M-43s, Soontir, and Arktos.

~Dysole, a bit disappointed but that's how this game goes sometimes

[Chris Perkins]

Yeah.

I felt good about the draft going in, but after the opening failure of the Varks I was left in a much worse spot.

I also kept forgetting that M-43 get to move others after their attacks, and Dysole was kind enough to remind me twice (which she definitely didn't have to do).

But I played a fairly sloppy game overall and got quite lucky when the dice kept failing to cooperate for high percentage attacks that Dysole was getting off but not landing (at one point, 1 Brute Grut got 4 attacks in a row into an M-43 and failed to land any of the 4 kills, which was indicative of like 3-4 spots like that where Dysole probably could have won the game but the dice didn't let it happen).

Overall just got very lucky in this one.

[Shiftrex]

Matchup:

(BANNED)
* Kaemon Awa, Goblin Cuttersx3

* Kalagrith, Deathreaversx2

* Asterios, Marro Dividersx3

Easy Company
* Capt. John Varan, Marcu Esenwein, 8th Infantry Pathfinderx5
Jumpscare
* Isamu, Swaysil, Phantom Knightsx3
Alien Empire
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

Draft:

Shiftrex -> Strike Kaemon pod
Srd -> Kalagrath pod
Shiftrex -> Easy Company
Srd -> No Strike
Shiftrex -> Alien Empire
Srd -> Jumpscare

Shiftrex -> Takes north startzone (Srd picked for Shiftrex to place first)

Rundown:

Spoiler Alert!

- Round 1, I had a pretty bad blunder and for some reason forgot that John can't shield people from adjacent attacks. I moved the pathfinder pod up twice, and only got to shoot with firefight once. The PKs came up and made short work of the infantry, they focused attacks on the pathfinders themselves and left John alone for the moment. Next round saw one fly over to eldgrim and pop him for one, Eldgrim actually came out and tried to kill a PK to no avail and the rest of my pathfinders went away. Johnstayed on the western level 4, single hex for a few turns after that. Really troubling start.

- PKs advanced to fight the romans but the romans proved far more resilient. My initial set up made it impossible to attack MBS so the PKs settled for trying to attack into squad figures and didn't have much luck. NGS and the romans enveloped them and made short work of the situation. We went back and forth, exhausting the PKs and only losing a single roman in the mix. Two PKs went to team up on John Varan at his lonely outpost but he had an order marker, after being pushed up to 3 wounds he used his special attack at point blank which allowed him to kill 2 PKs and move onto the disengage glyph here he aimed his final shot atf friendly Eldgrim and gave NGS the needed movement steroids. Very lucky turn for me.

- With PK's gone off the board I assessed the only offensive pieces left were Swaysil and Kalagrath. I was able to push MBS to level 3, 2 hex piece on the very eastern part of the board and take 2 shots down into swaysil and take that piece off the board. Kalagrath had rats clogging key terrain so I couldn't get any shots onto her while she was in the startzone. I made a mistake in this portion of the game and attack 1 rat, they scattered and moved around a bit... I was hoping they would free up a spot for MBS to stand but no luck however one rat did move up onto an eastern level 4, 2 hex to stand next to a roman and make itself an obstacle for kalagrath if she tried to perch. Boardstate: 6 romans, NGS, MBS, Marcu vs kalagrath, 8 rats, isamu)

- I spread my romans out in the center of the board trying to anticipate where the dragon is going to go, and Kalagrath makes the decision to go after John Varan who is still standing on the disengage glyph. She kills him with a normal attack and NGS is speedy enough to catch up and start rolling for mind shackle and pot shots while she is on the western most level 3, 2 hex on the board. I replace john with a roman who was not tied up and use that to free most of my force from engagements as they posture nearby. We get into a cycle where Kalagrath attacks down onto a roman on the glyph and then I replace that roman and get 2 attacks into her. We do this a couple of times and then when she drops below half health I surround with 2 romans and NGS for good hits. Kalagrath decides to go for an aggressive move at 1 life, tripple disengage to try and clear out some romans. She dies to the LEAs (2 out of 3).

- Srd conceeds with 8 rats and isamu on the board vs NGS, MBS, Marcu, 4 romans.

Looking back at the aggressive pathfinder play, I think I could have played it differently but the game likely would have still worked out as a similar pace. PKs are good into them, just like they were meant to be and they probably would have chased them where ever they set up even if I tried to lead romans. That might have been even more detrimental because I would have been dispersed and then Srd could have shifted to Kalagarath at a worse time for me. John scoring 2 kills (PKs) killing my eldgrim, AND taking the disengage glyph was a huge stroke of luck for me as it enabled my army to largely ignore rats so Kalagrath sat on a perch and played big attack vs little attacks. This kind of setup is precisely the reason I didn't want to face Kaemon.

The flow of the game dictated kalagrath had a turn after waking up where she didn't have any attacks and because I had decided to use MBS to kill swaysil in the startzone instead of trying to reach Kalagrath with NGS or romans there were no nearby clumps for her to wreak havoc on. This also eliminated much of the lategame play that could have happend with rats on the board. I think the disengage glyph was supremely important and if I didn't have the proper development I wouldn't have been able to hold it. Dice favored me with a high attack roll stat that likely explains how the romans were able to devour PKs so quickly, pathfinders certainly didn't do much even at point blank!

Good Game, look forward to our next one Srd.

Stats:

Spoiler Alert!

srd717
Attack rolls: 40 out of 80 (50%)
Defense rolls: 45 out of 134 (33.58%)
Total dice rolled: 214
Time used: 0h, 24m, 4s


Shiftrex
Attack rolls: 64 out of 106 (60.38%)
Defense rolls: 21 out of 61 (34.43%)
Total dice rolled: 167
Time used: 0h, 17m, 32s

Map Thoughts:

Spoiler Alert!

This is a map that I was pretty spooked to play on. No defensive terrain (shadow, brush, trees) aside from ruins and so many dragon perches. The center of the board has these 2 central peaks that look like they are just begging for players to fight over them but I didn't have any pieces that could leverage it well aside from MBS (since pathfinders soundly bit it against PKs) and Srd was able to clog the board really well with rats to prevent most of that. I think if I was playing a game against say, nilfheim that I would consider this a mostly uphill battle of a map.

Despite my initial feelings about it, with a little thought I was able to leverage the startzone pretty well. I positioned my romans so that they could all ascend to level 2 in one turn and I even saw the level 3, 1 hex in the northwest part of the board as an ideal spot for John to sit while surrounded by Pathfinders. Then a turn later I moved him up to the level 4, single hex nearby and that was where most of my regrets came from. Ironically this is one of the spots where I was terrified that Kaemon Awa would be untouchable on during my initial analysis of the map. After moving around with 4 move romans and 6 move NGS I can say that everything is a lot closer than it feels at first glance. I feel like I got to play on every part of this map and saw uses for all of it (despite how much it was covered in rats).

All the perches at level 4 have nearby perches that allow you to context a big unit like a dragon if you have any ranged assets. The glyphs are quite hard to hold on this map, being on water and surrounded by height. I think that if the glyph wasn't as influential to the matchup as it was here (disengage for a melee army that would need to face rats) that I wouldn't have bothered at all. Despite the map being symetrical this is one of those maps where I think there is some merit to picking the side with the larger ruin piece as the central level 3, 2 hex grants access for a six range figure (like MBS or pathfinder) to shoot down into your startzone more aggressively. I highly considered using this but NGS turned out to be more available for what I needed and the lucky Mind Shackle is something thats hard to pass up an attempt for on a dragon.

I don't like water in the startzone. It doesn't seem to add anything and just adds and extra move tax to get into the game. I was lucky enough that my footprint could avoid having anyone in water except Eldgrim who didn't really care. I do see two clear pathways for the startzone water that are on the western and eastern parts of the board twoards the glyph areas (or areas to contest the glyph) but the water in the center seems to just be an annoying spot to avoid unless you have say... raelin or something that will move out of the spot with flying immediately. I think the map could be elevated by some better use of the water. As for the glyph areas, they are oppressive but they come with a desireable area to develop into with certain units so I think that I still enjoy their current configuration (to include the water). Maybe water could be used to section off one glyph or one path into the board from the startzone that is more difficult based upon if you are coming from the north or the south. Still a fun map, startzone water without a good use just draws my attention.

[Dysole]

Round 4 is on Bad Moon Rising.

The earthling (3-0) {2} v. shiftrex (3-0) pool of armies is:

Dok
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Marcu Esenwein, Tor-Kul-Na
Duck
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Goose
* Kha, Beakface Rogue, Nottingham Brigandx5

Easy Company
* Capt. John Varan, Marcu Esenwein, 8th Infantry Pathfinderx5
Jumpscare
* Isamu, Swaysil, Phantom Knightsx3
Alien Empire
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

earthling chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, shiftrex chooses who places first.

The chris perkins (3-0) {1} v. og-blaha (2-1) {6} pool of armies is:

I Hear 8 Move is Good
* Arktos, Kozuke Samurai, Varkaanan Swiftfangs
Don't Get Too Close, We Have Commitment Issues
* Nakita Agents, Cathar Spearmenx2
The (Hypothetical) Green Wyrmling Feels Left Out
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Blue Wyrmling, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmling

General Marcu
* Gen. Simon Fraser, Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Roman Legionnairesx2
where is Captain Jack?
* Me-Burq-Sa, 10th Regiment of Footx3
Jumping Jax
* Kira Jax, Warforged Soldiersx3

og-blaha chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, chris perkins chooses who places first.

The foudzing (2-1) v. srd717 (2-1) {9} pool of armies is:

I think I've
* Marro Warriors, Microcorp Agentsx2
already seen
* Krav Maga Agents, Horned Skull Brutesx2
that somewhere
* B-11 Resistance Corps, Phantom Knightsx2


* Kaemon Awa, Goblin Cuttersx3

* Kalagrith, Deathreaversx2

* Asterios, Marro Dividersx3

srd717 chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, foudzing chooses who places first.

The tiamat (2-1) v. ryguy266 (2-1) {7} pool of armies is:

* Havech Eradicatorsx3

* Marcus Decimus Gallus, Me-Burq-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

* Brute Gruts, Krav Maga Agents, Marcu Esenwein, Rygarn

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There?
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

tiamat chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, ryguy266 chooses who places first.

The megasilver (2-1) {4} v. superfrog (2-1) pool of armies is:

Divide & Devour
* Ashi-Dhulu, Marro Dividersx3
Soul Searching
* Major J15, Vulcanmech Incendiborgs
Spirit Hunting
* Teeth of the Makwax3

Death from Below
* Ashi-Dhulu, Shieldsmiths of Granite Keepx2
Death from Above
* Grimnak, Heavy Grutsx2
Death from … Far Away?
* Morgan's Riflemen, Banshees of Durgeth Swampx3

superfrog chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, megasilver chooses who places first.

The shurrig (1-2) v. dunedain (1-2) pool of armies is:

Buggin’ Owt
* Kozil, Fyorlag Spidersx3
Grubs not Drugs
* Kon-Tar-Na, Marrden Nagrubsx4
One of These Bows is Not like the Others
* Johnny ""Shotgun"" Sullivan, Aubrien Archersx3

Rome Is The Light
* James Murphy, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Roman Legionnairesx2
For His Majesty
* Guilty McCreech, Heirloom, 10th Regiment of Footx2
Meat's Back On The Menu
* Me-Burq-Sa, Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider, Death Chasers of Theskx3

shurrig chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, dunedain chooses who places first.

The dysole (1-2) v. swarm (1-2) pool of armies is:

I Got Your Proldiers License Right Here
* Kira Jax, Soontir Van, M-43 Resistance Fightersx3
The Green Hunters
* Brute Gruts, Chen Tang, Eilan Sidhex3
Burn Towns Get Money
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Kalagrith, Tarn Viking Warriors


* Alastair MacDirk, MacDirk Warriorsx2

* Marrden Houndsx3

* Havech Eradicatorsx3

swarm chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, dysole chooses who places first.

The dok (1-2) {10} v. quozl (0-3) pool of armies is:

* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Me-Burq-Sa, Ornak, Blade Grutsx2

* Otar, Arrow Grutsx3, Ice Troll Berserker, Swog Rider

* Kyntela Gwyn, Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider, Pel the Hill Giant, Death Chasers of Theskx2

Turn of the Wyrm
* Black Wyrmlingx3, Blue Wyrmling, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Walking Death
* Deathwalker 9000, Zettian Infantryx2
EnThralled
* Nicholas Esenwein, Bloodburst Thrall, Darkprowl Thrall, Deathstrike Thrall, Preyblood Thrall

quozl chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, dok chooses who places first.

kevindola has the bye

~Dysole, kicking us forward

[Dysole]

@dok @kevindola @Shurrig @quozl @Dunedain @Xiegfried

We've repaired due to an error.

The dok (1-2) {10} v. kevindola (1-2) pool of armies is:

* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Me-Burq-Sa, Ornak, Blade Grutsx2

* Otar, Arrow Grutsx3, Ice Troll Berserker, Swog Rider

* Kyntela Gwyn, Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider, Pel the Hill Giant, Death Chasers of Theskx2

Oink
* Otar, Suskra, Van Nessing, Arrow Gruts
Gallop DMC
* Arthur of Sherwood, Deltacron, Mika Connour
Ichor
* Estivara, Wo-Sa-Ga, Marrden Nagrubsx2

kevindola chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, dok chooses who places first.

The shurrig (1-2) v. quozl (0-3) pool of armies is:

Buggin’ Owt
* Kozil, Fyorlag Spidersx3
Grubs not Drugs
* Kon-Tar-Na, Marrden Nagrubsx4
One of These Bows is Not like the Others
* Johnny ""Shotgun"" Sullivan, Aubrien Archersx3

Turn of the Wyrm
* Black Wyrmlingx3, Blue Wyrmling, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Walking Death
* Deathwalker 9000, Zettian Infantryx2
EnThralled
* Nicholas Esenwein, Bloodburst Thrall, Darkprowl Thrall, Deathstrike Thrall, Preyblood Thrall

shurrig chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, quozl chooses who places first.

The dunedain (1-2) v. xiegfried (0-3) pool of armies is:

Rome Is The Light
* James Murphy, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Roman Legionnairesx2
For His Majesty
* Guilty McCreech, Heirloom, 10th Regiment of Footx2
Meat's Back On The Menu
* Me-Burq-Sa, Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider, Death Chasers of Theskx3


* Havech Eradicatorsx3

* Marcus Decimus Gallus, Me-Burq-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

* Brute Gruts, Krav Maga Agents, Marcu Esenwein, Rygarn

dunedain chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, xiegfried chooses who places first.

arrow grut has a bye.

~Dysole, apologetically

[Dysole]

Tomorrow morning at 9 Pacific

Swarm chose to be player 1.

I struck Havechs.
He took Hounds.
I took Kal.
He struck nothing.
I took MacDirks
He took M-43s

~Dysole, curious to see how this plays out.

[Shiftrex]

Matchup:

Dok
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Marcu Esenwein, Tor-Kul-Na
Duck
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Goose (BANNED)
* Kha, Beakface Rogue, Nottingham Brigandx5

Easy Company
* Capt. John Varan, Marcu Esenwein, 8th Infantry Pathfinderx5
Jumpscare (BANNED)
* Isamu, Swaysil, Phantom Knightsx3
Alien Empire
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

Draft:

Earthling -> Strike Goose
Shiftrex -> Easy Company
Earthling -> Alien Empire
Shiftrex -> Strike Jumpscare
Earthling -> Duck
Shiftrex -> Dok

Earthling -> Takes north startzone (Shiftrex picked for Earthling to place first)

Rundown:

Spoiler Alert!

- Lost initiative on first round. Early game was Easy Company vs wyrmlings. I was able to pod up on the 7 hex, 3 height right in front of my startzone by turn 2 but Earthling had immediately put pressure on with wyrmlings. He didn't bother with ranged attacks and just came up to engage. This made for difficult movement, patherfinders had a decent firefight and cleared out everything close. We traded back and forth a bit but wyrmlings were able to take down pathfinders very quickly because they didn't want to trigger purple heart.

- When I had only 2 pathfinders left I loaded up all my order markers on John and went for a walk. He was able to take one of the single hex, 4 height in the middle and took out a wyrmling. Then he walked forward onto the opponent's 7 hex, 3 height and put 1 wound on sleeping MBS in the startzone. NGS and romans came up to engage but could not get significant wounds to stick. John decided to disengage and start using his special attack. Earthling didn't want to do any LEAs because it would just pump up how many dice I was throwing. John killed a few romans in the startzone over the course of the turn and used the northern path from the 7 hexer to walk down into the enemy startzone and get some level ground attacks.

- John was absolutely insane. Only NGS came back to try and kill him but failed to kill him. 3 wounds on him and I had OM 1 on him, won initiative very luckily. He disengaged with his special and kept picking off romans until there were only 4 left. 2 Romans boxed him in and 2 romans advanced with MBS towards my startzone. The rest of my turns were on TKN here who was engaged by a roman and MBS immediately put 2 wounds on him. TKN took care of the roman and we danced around with a single roman and MBS positioning, Earthling also had 3 wyrmlings left at this point in the game.

- John survives somehow and I give him another OM 1, he takes down the 2 romans that had him pinned and then finally gets killed by the 2 remaining wyrmlings. Some trample stomps later TKN gets worn down to 2 life while Earthling is able to protect his last remaining wyrmling and force a poor position for TKN while MBS can attack him. TKN defends, moves up and gets a kill on MBS after 2 level ground swings. A wyrmling comes in and can engage TKN from the single hex, level 4. He takes a shot and is unable to bring TKN down. My third OM in this case was on Marcu who flew from the startzone and killed that last wyrmling.

- TKN vs NGS occurs right outside enemy startzone, TKN takes initiative and boxes NGS in against a wall, they go back and forth for two turns and then TKN stomps him and walks over to Eldgrim in the startzone to finish him off. We call the game there in my favor.

Draft did not go super well for me this round. In the early game I was significantly behind because the wyrmlings opted to just come into melee combat and exchange with the pathfinders who were not able to survive even with level ground attacks for most of the time. John made up most of the difference by going on a rampage with his scaling special attack. There were a few decision points where Earthling did not want to use LEAs because he didn't want to power up john further, at one point he did reach his 5 attacks after killing several romans and a few wyrmlings. Enough to even the odds. Kiting back into the enemy startzone and exploding on OM 1 was a very risky play for me to make, if I lost initiative then it likely wouldn't have worked. It did disrupt the board enough to prevent romans development to get efficient economy onto TKN.

I was unable to get the eldgrim spirit onto TKN because I prized trying to get to the 7 hex with my pathfinder pod on round 1 for a firefight as a higher priority. I did not have initiative in round 1 and this likely contributed to how I fell behind immediately. It may have been better to take the turn off by using Eldgrim to secure the glyph of Dagmar, which would have made a lot of the initiative rolls later less of a toss up. I was at the mercy of initiatives that went my way during a couple of critical moments. I think I might have been able to trade more efficiently into wyrmlings if I played the opening differently instead of rushing for the 7 hex, which I wasn't even able to fully claim (a white wyrmling came and sat on it turn 2).

Very lucky this game with John doing as much damage as he did and with TKN surviving some critical attacks from height. There was a point towards the end of the game where Earthling had Eldgrim, a roman, full health NGS and a wyrmling. The wyrmling moved and took height on a 2 life TKN and could have ended it there. I did have my next order marker on Marcu because I knew TKN could go down at any time but that could have easily flipped the gamestate if the wyrmling didn't roll 0/4 on its attack, followed by a 4/4 attack from marcu. NGS also could have gotten a mind shackle at the end, which I would have had no answer for. Very close game, no missed trample stomps, crazy outcomes.

Good Game, look forward to our next one Earthling.

Stats:

Spoiler Alert!

Shiftrex
Attack rolls: 62 out of 111 (55.86%)
Defense rolls: 32 out of 99 (32.32%)
Total dice rolled: 210
Time used: 0h, 20m, 11s


Earthling
Attack rolls: 43 out of 96 (44.79%)
Defense rolls: 34 out of 88 (38.64%)
Total dice rolled: 184
Time used: 0h, 39m, 33s

Map Thoughts:

Spoiler Alert!

Badmoon Rising is one of my favorite maps! I can't count the number of times I've played monks on this map or tested Wulfing Hunters here. When you are a figure with a lot of move or flying you can go almost anywhere that you want and make it count. There is tons of height variation, the shadow is positioned so that anything that isn't large can move up the middle with some extra safety and 7 hex, 3 height areas are close enough that even shorter range unit can still get full interaction. Deceptively there are still areas where line of sight can get denied, especially for small wyrmlings. The shadow area in the startzone right behind the 7 hex, 3 height area is a great example of cover that is available. Hard to see in a 2d environment but still a critical piece.

Heavily considered moving my pathfinder pod to the 3 height, 5 hex area on the northern/center part of the map. It would have required one disengage from John, which I wound up making anyways but I thought that committing to that side of the board at the time wouldn't do me any favors. I already had lost a lot of my initial force and I wanted to press forward towards sleeping units in the startzone. That wound up paying off a lot. Road was useful to me only in the end of the game with TKN vs NGS, I found myself trying to tether units with John and be annoying so that the romans could not make good use of the road.

The variety of 3 height on the southwest part of the map (it's mirrored so doesn't matter that much) was nearly my undoing as I had to take an LEA and drop TKN to 2 life in order to get onto the 3 height, 5 hex level ground with MBS. Height variations made it pretty much impossible to try and walk around for stomps. I understand why this would be the map where you are fine giving the opponent TKN, tough to use here. While it didn't come up, the water in the startzone caused me to recount my positioning for eldgrim several times as I put him as far forward in the northwest portion of the water as I could. I really wish the 2 water pieces that are attached to the startzone but not part of the startzone were gone just because I hate water lol. Love the map, always will.

[Dysole]

Sorry this was a bit late.

The Quarterfinals are on Black Ice.

The foudzing (3-1) v. earthling (3-1) {5} pool of armies is:

I think I've
* Marro Warriors, Microcorp Agentsx2
already seen
* Krav Maga Agents, Horned Skull Brutesx2
that somewhere
* B-11 Resistance Corps, Phantom Knightsx2

Dok
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Marcu Esenwein, Tor-Kul-Na
Duck
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Goose
* Kha, Beakface Rogue, Nottingham Brigandx5

earthling chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, foudzing chooses who places first.

The ryguy266 (3-1) {3} v. superfrog (3-1) pool of armies is:

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There?
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

Death from Below
* Ashi-Dhulu, Shieldsmiths of Granite Keepx2
Death from Above
* Grimnak, Heavy Grutsx2
Death from … Far Away?
* Morgan's Riflemen, Banshees of Durgeth Swampx3

superfrog chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, ryguy266 chooses who places first.

Chris Perkins and Shiftrex have a bye to the semifinals. (Rematches could affect which winner they play at this point)

~Dysole, informationally

[Dysole]

It was pointed out we had the wrong map. Use these links.

The Quarterfinals are on Black Ice.

The foudzing (3-1) v. earthling (3-1) {5} pool of armies is:

I think I've
* Marro Warriors, Microcorp Agentsx2
already seen
* Krav Maga Agents, Horned Skull Brutesx2
that somewhere
* B-11 Resistance Corps, Phantom Knightsx2

Dok
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Marcu Esenwein, Tor-Kul-Na
Duck
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Goose
* Kha, Beakface Rogue, Nottingham Brigandx5

earthling chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, foudzing chooses who places first.

The ryguy266 (3-1) {3} v. superfrog (3-1) pool of armies is:

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There?
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

Death from Below
* Ashi-Dhulu, Shieldsmiths of Granite Keepx2
Death from Above
* Grimnak, Heavy Grutsx2
Death from … Far Away?
* Morgan's Riflemen, Banshees of Durgeth Swampx3

superfrog chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, ryguy266 chooses who places first.

~Dysole, updatingly

[Dysole]

The Semifinals are on Water Treatment Facility.

The chris perkins (4-0) {1} v. earthling (4-1) {3} pool of armies is:

I Hear 8 Move is Good
* Arktos, Kozuke Samurai, Varkaanan Swiftfangs
Don't Get Too Close, We Have Commitment Issues
* Nakita Agents, Cathar Spearmenx2
The (Hypothetical) Green Wyrmling Feels Left Out
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Blue Wyrmling, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmling

Dok
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Marcu Esenwein, Tor-Kul-Na
Duck
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmlingx2
Goose
* Kha, Beakface Rogue, Nottingham Brigandx5

chris perkins chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, earthling chooses who places first.

The shiftrex (4-0) {9} v. ryguy266 (4-1) {4} pool of armies is:

Easy Company
* Capt. John Varan, Marcu Esenwein, 8th Infantry Pathfinderx5
Jumpscare
* Isamu, Swaysil, Phantom Knightsx3
Alien Empire
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There?
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

ryguy266 chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, shiftrex chooses who places first.

~Dysole, shoving us forward

[Shiftrex]

Matchup:

Easy Company
* Capt. John Varan, Marcu Esenwein, 8th Infantry Pathfinderx5
Jumpscare
* Isamu, Swaysil, Phantom Knightsx3
Alien Empire
* Eldgrim the Viking Champion, Me-Burq-Sa, Ne-Gok-Sa, Roman Legionnairesx2

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There? (BANNED)
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

Draft:

Ry -> Strike Varks
Shiftrex -> Easy Company
Ry -> Stingers
Shiftrex -> No Strike
Earthling -> Alien Empire
Shiftrex -> Easy Company

Ry -> Takes north startzone (Shiftrex picked for Ry to place first)

Rundown:

Spoiler Alert!

Long story short, I definitely lost the drafts. Very hard game and things just did not work out. RyGuy played it well.

- Opened with PKs, Ry split order markers on every round of the game except for the last one and was difficult to deal with. While I had to commit to either a fast moving unit or a slow moving ranged pod. Phantoms took attacks from height and from even ground, trying to look for ways to screen romans out by taking favorable attacks. Failed to kill stingers effectively and took too many losses early game.

- Switched off of Phantoms when only 2 were left, moved onto Easy company and tried to trade effectively into stinger with superior range and attack dice. Failed to kill stingers several times on even ground and from below to the point that romans were able to slowly walk up and make me switch targets onto them. Struggle to kill romans as well and NGS is an effective tank walking across the center of the Map. John soaked wounds until he had 1 remaining but Romans controlled the dagmar glyph so I never had an effective reason to try and switch onto him for valor attack. Attacks of 4 were not sticking so attacks of 2 did not look attractive.

- Swaysil came out when I had 2 pathfinders left on board (that suprisingly took a couple of hits and finally rolled shields against 0 and 1 attack rolls from NGS). Swaysil ran around and saw a moment of surivevability sitting on the northern, 2 hex height 5 piece. Downed a squad of stingers and then moved over to try and kill the roman on dagmar to establish a glimpse of hope in the game. Failed with a shot from height on a low ground roman. Marcu died slowly in the start zone to 1 roman because I could not afford to commit an order marker to him with the board state. I was behind from about round 2 in the game and never caught up.

- Lategame is an order marker dying on a phantom night and Isamu getting to take 2 turns. He hits 1 vanish and then fails to hit the second after romans take initiative. Very silly OM placement by me on that part

Draft draft was very bad. Essentially because I didn't get to choose who picked first the army was basically decided. Did not enjoy that situation, a fourth pod would have been nice but it just broke down to me bringing a very sub par set of pods to the event. Even though my pods tried to create a rock paper scissor situation... PKs did not perform so the game collapsed before I could even give it a go. Until I switched over to all order marks on swaysil for a round, my stats were at 43% on attack rolls (PKs, Pathfinders). Guess this is pretty much me just blaming the format which isn't a good thing, the event has been fun. This particular situation just sucked, RyGuy had good pods and draft for this.

Good Game, just frustrating outcome.

Stats:

Spoiler Alert!

Shiftrex
Attack rolls: 84 out of 165 (50.91%)
Defense rolls: 54 out of 151 (35.76%)
Total dice rolled: 316
Time used: 0h, 32m, 17s


ryguy
Attack rolls: 81 out of 158 (51.27%)
Defense rolls: 49 out of 152 (32.24%)
Total dice rolled: 310
Time used: 0h, 27m, 17s

Map Thoughts:

Spoiler Alert!

Map feels very disjointed and very perch oriented. I don't think I know how to use it effectively or I should have created a better plan (with better pods) in draft to figure out how to use it. The pieces I had that took advantage of it the best in my draft were phantom knights and swaysil. While stingers and MBS took advantage of it on the other side.

Development was difficult and it feels like there aren't a lot of meaningful pieces of ground for my set up to try and hold. The height 5 pieces allow a lot of ranged pieces to shoot down into the startzone and the varying elevation means it takes almost an entire round for some units to move just up to the center to try and engage a unit from low ground on many of the perches. It's definitely a king of the hill style map. I'd need to think about it a bit more, I felt like I was constantly fighting the map to get anything done and there weren't any real positions to take if you couldn't hold the center. Likely due to my draft outcome.

Startzone is probably the best feature of the map. It doesn't really have bottleneck exits. Even though you have to climb out of the startzone it's hard to block anyone off into their startzone without committing several figures. I feel like the map is pretty range friendly. Even with the existance of the bushes, stingers felt like something to be concerned about the whole game. Fast movers like orcs or superior melee like knights would definitely make me feel differently about that. Just in the moment it felt like range was king on this map.

A lot of this perception is probably just because I lost the draft. In a melee vs melee matchup or a range vs range matchup it probably feels a lot better. I need to play on it again.

[Dysole]

The Finals are on Dance of the Dryads.

The chris perkins (5-0) {1} v. ryguy266 (5-1) {2} pool of armies is:

I Hear 8 Move is Good
* Arktos, Kozuke Samurai, Varkaanan Swiftfangs
Don't Get Too Close, We Have Commitment Issues
* Nakita Agents, Cathar Spearmenx2
The (Hypothetical) Green Wyrmling Feels Left Out
* Black Wyrmlingx4, Blue Wyrmling, Red Wyrmlingx3, White Wyrmling

Knock Knock
* Heracles
Who's There?
* Isamu, Marcu Esenwein, Varkaanan Darkclaws, Varkaanan Greyspears
Stingers
* Marro Stingersx4

chris perkins chooses to be Player A (pick first) or Player B (strike first and pick second). After armies are picked, ryguy266 chooses who places first.

~Dysole, wrapping up this season