Zaadesh 2 (Exalted) vs. Rahera (Talion Charter CID) - Warmachine and Hordes Skorne Battle Report

I had the opportunity to hop onto Vassal and try out a list that I’ve rapidly fallen in love with, originally from Matt Mcwatters of WTC Canada fame.

My opponent was trying out some sweet Talion CID stuff, and we pretty much went in blind.

Rahera (Talion)
- Galleon
- Mariner

Doc Killingsworth
Bosun Grogspar
Lady Hawke
Lord Rockbottom
Press Ganger
Powder Monkey
Powder Monkey

Ayanna and Holt
Commodore Cannon Crew
Sea Dogs
- Mr. Walls
Press Gangers
Dirge Seers

Zaadesh 2 (Exalted)
- Despoiler
- Archidon
- Agonizer

Supreme Guardian

Ancestral Guardian
Ancestral Guardian
Hakaar the Destroyer
Gobber Chef

- CA
- CA
- CA

I lost the roll off and chose the side without all the nasty obstructions for my Supreme Guardian to mess with.

JP’s deviations from the broadsides guns went back into his own lines for the most part which was…silly to say the least.

Mercenaries turn 1:

Everything runs at me. Rahera puts up Escort so that the Galleon and Mariner are faster than they look. The Sea Dogs all have to avoid the gigantic barrages of death so they do not come up full distance.

Skorne turn 1:

I respond with…basically running everything up as well. I try to feed him 3-4 models from each unit so that he will trigger vengeance and get a big alpha off under feat.

Forgetting all about Despoiler’s free upkeep, Zaadesh only puts out Inviolable Resolve on the left unit and does nothing else. I really, in hindsight, should have put up Grave Wind with all three units, trusting in the Supreme Guardian to refill them, but alas, I did not. I did feel real at home leaving a super important CA way behind the unit they go with - turns out the Ravager Chiefs aren’t the only ones bravely leading from the back!

Mercenaries turn 2:

The response is rather more intense than I expected, with Harm going into the unit with Inviolable Resolve and the Sea Dogs getting +2 to hit and damage on guns from Rockbottom allowing them and the Press Gangers to take out 13 Immortals.

The Galleon plus the Commodore Cannon kill off Hakaar (I thought he was safe at ARM 21!!!), and JP passes the turn.

Skorne turn 2:

Vengeance attacks kill two guys, and Zaadesh upkeeps Inviolable Resolve. He starts things off by Feating and charging a Press Ganger on the right who toughs 4 times in a row. I really wanted to sprint forward and camp 4 this turn, but instead Zaadesh is now staying where he is.

The black Immortal unit charges in and kills a few guys, including Doc Killingsworth. The Supreme Guardian charges in, brings back three Immortals, Threshers which kills two more Immortals, Grogspar, and some Press Gangers, and then brings back two more Immortals. EDIT: This was an illegal move, I had early CID rules stuck in my brain for some reason. The SG can only bring back models once per turn.

The orange unit of Immortals charges the Galleon, rolling somewhat poorly and only doing about 20 damage.

The left unit of Immortals just runs to get into position for next turn.

Mercenaries turn 3:

With Crane and Escort, JP can get the Mariner into my Supreme Guardian this turn if he kills one Immortal.

Grave Wind keeps that Immortal alive until Hawke charges in and finishes him off.

Rahera charges into an Immortal and takes 4 damage through focus on the defensive strike before killing him, blood booning Black Spot, and sprinting out. I lose almost all the rest of both Black and Orange units of Immortals, largely to the Galleon, and then the Mariner charges in. My Defensive Strike takes out his cortex, but a cranked damage roll of 6,6,5 knocks the Supreme Guardian down to 8 boxes. Another high spike on the Commodore Cannon finishes it off.

JP scores a point.

Score: 0 - 1
Advantage Mercenaries

Skorne turn 3:

Abidan and the Ancestral Guardian finish off the Mariner.

Zaadesh charges into the right zone and finishes clearing it out.

Immortals on the left charge the Galleon, rolling okay ish and leaving it on 16. The Archidon charges in and rolls abysmally for damage, leaving the big ‘jack on 8.

The Agonizer puts up -2 Strength and covers the Galleon with it.

Score: 0 - 1
Advantage Mercenaries

Mercenaries turn 4:

The Commodore Cannon slams the Agonizer away from the Galleon, and then Rehera and the almost dead Galleon kill off the Archidon.

Various other Immortals die, but attrition is stalling out, and the left hand unit is still almost fully healthy. Of note, if these were living models a feat turn would have completely swung the attrition in the Mercs’ favor.

Score: 0 - 1
Advantage Mercenaries

Skorne turn 4:

The Immortals finally finish off the Galleon, and pick up Ayanna and Holt as well.

The Agonizer is too far away from the left zone to run into it so he just derps up and does no spells.

Lord Rockbottom bites an Ancestral Guardian Spear, and Despoiler charges in and kills Mr. Walls.

Zaadesh and Abidan handily kill off the objective, and I pass the turn up 2.

Score: 2 - 1
Advantage Skorne

Mercenaries turn 5:

Everything goes into Despoiler and fails to kill him. Rahera has taken another damage from the corrosion at this point. I score another point for the right zone.

Score: 1 - 3
Advantage Skorne

Skorne turn 5:

I fail my eyeball check, thinking the Agonizer can easily run into the left zone. With that thought, the Despoiler kills off everything in the zone except Rahera so I can score it.

The Agonizer checks and is…1/2 an inch short. Suddenly I cannot win in one turn, and I will only have a 7 box Agonizer to transfer to, so Rahera has to die.

The Ancestral Guardian charges in and hits her down to two. Abidan charges in the other side and ends the game.

I forgot to take a picture of this turn, but barely anything moved so you can see above.

Victory for Skorne!

Post-Game/CID thoughts:

For not having a feat, the Rahera force attritioned surprisingly well into this Exalted list. My impressions of the game:

Red: The Deviation benefit of the theme is…questionable as a benefit. I’d like to see it only deviate to the 6, 1, or 2 so that it always goes towards the enemy lines.

Yellow: Powder Monkey - these guys have so many rules and they are so cheap. I would like to see their explosion ability go away. They were one deviation away from killing a unit of immortals because I had to freestrike one to prevent the cannon from slamming it into Zaadesh.

Green: Basically everything else. Rahera got to do work every single turn, contributing to killing the Archidon and killing some Immortals and Sprinting around like crazy. The Mariner with 2 inch reach in combination with Escort and Crane has a very solid threat range. The Commodore Cannon is still nuts.