OK, firstly, I have to make two apologies - first up, this is my first time using VASSAL to make a battle report, and the ranges are all weird - sometimes things will look like they're in range, but in reality they weren't, and sometimes things will look like they're nowhere near when, in reality, they were almost base to base. Secondly, I'm currently suffering from a terminal case of man flu, and I popped enough cough sweets (the ones that have "may cause drowsiness" on the side and taste of happy) last night that I nearly fell asleep by the end of the game, so this is gonna get more and more vague as the batrep goes on. Enjoy!
Deployment
OK, the armies were as follows (in turn order...)
Madrak Ironhide, a Dire Troll Mauler, a Pyre Troll, a Rune Bearer and 6 Fenblades
Adeptis Rahn, 2 Phoenixes, 2 Arcanists
Skarre Ravenmane, a Defiler, 10 Revenant Crew, Captain Rengrave, a Revenant Cannon, a Necrotech and a Scrap Thrall
The woods in the middle was actually a large area of overgrowth which we counted as Difficult Terrain and Concealment.
Turn 1
The Trolls move forward. The Runebearer casts Veil of Mists (or whatever it's called, the one that gives Concealment) on the Fenblades.
The two Arcanists move forward and use Power Booster on their assigned Phoenix, who then ran forward towards the Revenant Crew. Rahn walked up behind them and cast Force Field on himself and Polarity Shield on the Phoenix nearest to the Cryx lines.
The Defiler moves up and Skarre, moving away from the Phoenixes, casts Backlash on the Phoenix with Polarity Shield. Rengrave moves up and takes a shot, doing a single point of damage and injuring Rahn. The Revenant Crew with Line of Sight try the same, but don't do nearly as well. Lastly, the Revenant Cannon fires at the Backlashed Phoenix, but is massively out of range, bouncing off Rahn's force field and hitting Rengrave and a Revenant, causing some impressive damage to both (NOTE - next turn we realised that it had moved and fired, but meh, the damage was done).
Turn 2
Again, the Trollbloods move up, again the Rune Bearer casts the Concealment thing on the Fenblades. Again Madrak doesn't cast a damn thing.
Rahn upkeeps Force Field and drops Polarity Shield, allocating three Focus to the Backlashed Phoenix who, after a quick burst of Concentrated Power from her Arcanist, walks up to Rengrave, Combusts and then hits the Defiler a few times with the Thermal Blade, killing Rengrave, a Revenant and totalling the Defiler. The other Phoenix moves up to secure the middle of the table with Rahn and her Arcanist moving up behind.
Skarre upkeeps Backlash on the Phoenix as the Revenants swarm it and, with some piss-poor rolling, do very little. The few hits they do get do some damage to Rahn, who is slowly but surely beginning to feel the hurt. The cannon and the Necrotech move up, and Skarre moves slightly further away.
Turn 3
The Trolls start moving through the undergrowth. And very little else happens.
Rahn upkeeps Force Field and gives two points of focus to the Phoenix in the middle of the table, who moves up and uses it's Halo Cannon to kill the Necrotech and it's Scrap Thrall. The other Phoenix Combusts, killing every Revenant except the Quartermaster, who is less than half an inch out of range. The Cryx player's gloating is shut up with a quick Force Blast that hurls the Quatermaster into a tree, killing him, too. Rahn moves up.
Skarre upkeeps Backlash and moves up. The cannon takes a potshot at the Fenblades and misses.
Turn 4
The Pyre and Dire Trolls break cover into my part of the board. The Pyre puts it's animus on the Fenblades and the Runebearer keeps casting Veil of Mists.
Rahn upkeeps Force Field. The Phoenix in the middle moves up to the Fenblades and then I get distracted. I come back, and move the other Phoenix up past the pool. Rahn moves up and, seeing how far out the Fullblood Trolls are, uses Telekinesis on the Pyre Troll to make them both stand facing each other before throwing a Force Hammer through the unengaged Phoenix that hits Skarre and does a bit of damage. The Arcanists move up to protect their boss.
Skarre shakes off being knocked down and charges the Phoneix, knocking it down and laying into it with Life Traded, boosted damage rolls. At the end of the storm, the battered Myrmidon is left with a single point each on the Cortex and Thermal blade...
Turn 5
The Pyre troll passes it's Frenzy check. It proves to be less lucky when the Dire Troll fails and punches the Pyre troll in the face, causing quite a large amount of damage. The Fenblades do a decent amount of damage to the Phoenix in the middle and the Runebearer walks up. No idea what he cast. Let's go with... Veil of Mists, 'cos it wasn't Hero's Lament.
Rahn gives the Phoenix in combat with Skarre three focus, the one in combat with the Fenblades 1 Focus, and upkeeps Force Field. The Phoenix in combat with Skarre goes to town, leaving a vaguely Satyxis-shaped bloodstain on the ground. The Phoenix in combat with the Fenblades Combusts, killing two and knocking down another with a Tough check. He then uses his focus to stab the downed one, finishing him off. Rahn camps on his focus.
The Revenant Cannon misses the combat in the middle, and does nothing of value.
Turn 6
The Fenblades use their vengeance move to hit the Phoenix, closely followed by trashing the thing in their own turn. Madrak moves up and the Fullbloods kill an Arcanist each.
The remaining Phoenix limps up and Rahn runs off.
The cannon hits thin air and kills it.
Turn 7
All the Trollbloods move up to pin Rahn in.
Rahn gives the Phoenix 3 Focus and uses Telekinesis on it and the Mauler to move them almost next to each other. The Phoenix moves up and swings wildly at the Mauler, doing some damage, but not much.
The cannon kills some Fenblades. And noone cares.
Turn 8
The Mauler, unsurprisingly, totals the Phoenix as Madrak comes up behind and the Pyre Troll moves round the forest to block off escape routes. The Fenblade and Runebearer move up to the Cannon.
Rahn moves away, missing the Mauler with his Force Hammers.
Turn 9
The Mauler moves up, finishing just out of range of Rahn.
Rahn pops his Feat and hits the Mauler twice with fully boosted Force Blasts, almost killing it...
Turn 10
The Mauler regenerates, uses it's Animus and charges Rahn. The first hit takes Rahn down to one health. The next hit finishes him off.
Final Thoughts
I should get over my hatred of all-infantry Warmachine armies. Me ignoring the Trolls, combined with the Cryx player's ongoing rivalry with me (he's my regular opponent - just defected from Menoth), allowed the Trollbloods to walk up more or less unscathed.
I've also come to the conclusion that, at 15 points, my list is awesome. It managed to near wipe out the Cryx infantry spam on it's own before going on to hold up the Trollbloods and almost taking out their infantry too. Vengeance is brutal, and if I was facing Kriel Warriors, I'd have been fine. We've got a rematch tomorrow at 25 points, and I'm basically taking the same list with some Battle Mages and Magisters, because the list is just so solid.
