Internet Terrible defeats Karchev the Terrible

Before I start this post, let me begin by saying that I am a fan of eGrissel.

That doesn't make me a good player, and it doesn't mean I use her wonderfully, it is just a fun fact considering the level of vitriol that can be leveled at that babe with the huge... hammer.

eGrissel works well for me, Dash is almost always useful, I cast it first turn and upkeep it.  Inhospitable Ground can be useful in most matchups, there are certainly some where it isn't as useful I am not going to argue that.  Nuke is a nuke, never used it, I usually bring an Impaler and have not run into a situation where 2 Focus for that is better than buying another Fell Blast.  I suppose the day may come where I need her to make 3 Fell Blasts and 2 Arcane Bolts, but it has not arrived yet.

My list:


Grissel Bloodsong, Marshal of the Kriels
* Pyre Troll
* Troll Impaler
* Dire Troll Bomber
Krielstone Bearer and 3 Stone Scribes
* Krielstone Stone Scribe Elder
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (Leader and 1 Grunt)
Trollkin Sluggers (Leader and 4 Grunts)
Horthol, Long Rider Hero
Janissa Stonetide

So I came up with this list on the way to the LGS; I purchased the Sluggers for the Thornwood League, and wanted to see how I could put them into a list.  I felt this did a good job.  Against shooting they became 16/16 if it was coming over Janissa's wall or 14/16 otherwise (concealment from the Gobbers); with 8 wounds a piece that is solid enough.

I also felt that eGrissel was a great caster (out of the ones I own) to run them with.  Dash allows them to disengage from Combat with impunity.  I didn't want to move them too often, but at least if they survived Melee I could step back and shoot (same change of hit with +2 Pow over just staying in melee).  Her Feat would also A) make them more survivable if they did get locked up in Melee, or B) give them out of activation movement, which means they have more opportunities to Rapid Fire.

This was a little "eggs in one basket" for me, but I thought it was worth putting them on the table and seeing how they do without the Thornwood version of Finn to assist them.

For Warbeasts I took the trio I have been using for the last month in my T4 Grim Angus list, the Bomber works as a type of "combined arms" in this list, Bombing from downtown (Impaler animus) with POW16, AOE4 blasts or wading into Melee with 2 POW17 (Pyre animus) Open Fists with Crit Fire (Pyre animus).  He isn't a Mauler or the Earthborn, but I have caught quite a few people off guard with the Bomber suddenly charging in and scrapping a Heavy without breaking a sweat.

His list:



Karchev the Terrible
* Juggernaut
* Juggernaut
* Marauder
Battle Mechaniks (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Doom Reavers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Great Bears of Gallowswood
Winter Guard Mortar Crew (Leader and Grunt)
Widowmaker Marksman

Looking across the table I was a bit worried.  I have not run into the Great Bears before, and 4 'jack level Arm/Hit Boxes meant my Bomber was probably going to have to the heavy lifting.  How he was going to take down a Warlock and 3 Heavies was beyond me, but I opted to go second and let my opponent deploy.

His turn 1:

He put Karchev in the middle of his line of jacks, advanced and turned around, Towing the others with him.  His Mortar Crew ran so they could set up on a hill, Doom Reavers ran, Great Bears ran, Battle Mechanics moved up with Karchev and crew.

My turn 1:

I activated eGrissel first, throwing up Inhospitable Ground and casting Dash (camping 1). Impaler walked in front of eGrissel and put his animus on the Bomber, Bomber walked into rough terrain and managed to get a vector on the center of the tightly packed Doom Reaver unit, managing to get all 6 under his blast.  Six damage rolls later and only one Doom Reaver remained.  Bomber bought an attack, threw another barrel and deviated to nowhere.  Pyre Troll advanced through the rough terrain, Sluggers moved up a few inches, Gobbers dropped smoke over the brick of themselves, Sluggers, Stone, eGrissel, Janissa, and the Impaler; Janissa puts up a wall in front of most of the Sluggers.  Horthol charges the Widowmaker for some extra movement but does not get to her this turn.

His turn 2:


The lone Doom Reaver charges my Bomber, but falls 3" short (so 1" out of reach range) due to Inhospitable Ground, the Widowmaker moves and shoots at Horthol and misses, the Mortar crew aims and fires, missing and not managing to damage anything on deviation, Karchev & crew advance forward but don't get anywhere dangerous due to Inhospitable Ground and Janissa's wall.  Battle Mechanics move up, and my opponent ends his turn, camping 4 on Karchev at that point (though I don't remember exactly what he spent the other focus on).

My turn 2:


I upkeep Dash, Pyre Troll charges the lone Doom Reaver, easily dispatching it, Horthol charges the Widowmaker who gets trampled beneath Tuffalo hooves.  eGrissel casts Inhospitable Ground again, the Impaler animus on herself and then uses Quake on the Marauder, boosting to hit and catching Karchev's entire battlegroup under the template.  Four Sluggers sacrifice their movement, the Fifth needs to move, they all fire at Karchev getting roughly 8 shots and at Dice -10 do..... 4 damage overall.  Bomber walks forward drops two barrels on the Great Bears and drops them.  Pyre Troll moves up, Impaler moves over behind and to the right of the Sluggers, puts his Animus on himself and throws at Karchev and boosts damage but only does a few more.  Horthol moves closer.  Janissa puts up her wall, Gobbers drop their cloud.

His turn 3: 


eGrissel is at 0 Fury, but I am feeling pretty confidant, as not only does Karchev and his boys need to stand up, but I have Inhospitable ground up still!  Turns out that Karchev's feat gives them Pathfinder.  Mortar takes a pot shot and hits, killing the Slugger who moved and one of the Gobbers.  Karchev stands folks up casts Unearthly Rage and Feats.  The first Juggernaut slams the Bomber, moving him past eGrissel who is then Knocked Down and doing collateral damage to both of them.  The second Juggernaut charges eGrissel, auto hits at Dice +2 and rolls Triple 1s, doing 5 damage.  His second hit however, (Dice -2) fairs much better and hits eGrissel for 13 our of her remain 12 health...

It all comes down to a Tough roll, I look at my opponent and say "If this isn't a 5 or 6, you win." and roll the die.  It is interesting how anxious I was for that result, Karchev now had no focus, so I had a feeling I could turn the game around if I could just see a little luck...

SIX!  I get a Turn 3!

My turn 3:


eGrissel pulls 4 off the Bomber and 2 off the Impaler (leaving him with 1) and then upkeeps Dash.  Impaler makes a Threshold Check against an 8 and fails, killing the Slugger closest to him, that was disappointing, but   such is the risk vs. reward of the Fury system.

Horthol is in a perfect spot to Slam the Marauder, and does so, hitting Karchev with his own Warjack and knocking them both down.  50mm is ~1.96", so with Reach he is in range of Karchev, who he hits, doing some damage.  The remaining three Sluggers sacrifice their movement and get 7 attacks between them at Dice -6, and put some more boxes on Karchev (with 3 of those attacks doing 5 or 6 damage).  eGrissel stands up and lobs some Fell Blasts Karchev's way, doing quite a bit of damage, and finally the Bomber forces to stand up and takes a Free Strike from the Juggernaut, forces to Regenerate and drops 2 Barrels on Karchev's head, one with boosted damage, ending the game.

Aftergame Thoughts:


Remember how I took the Stone and the UA?  Yeah, they never saw a single point of Fury.  Because I went second it was a choice of tossing some on them or using Inhospitable Ground.  I think I made the right choice, but due to my 2nd turn they didn't see any either and by 3rd turn it was all or nothing.  I think in a slower game, or if I had taken 1st turn they would have come into play more.  I also had no idea that Karchev could give his battlegroup Pathfinder.  Live (thanks to Tough) and learn!

Third win for eGrissel, bringing her to 3-0.