Tournament Battle Report: The Sneaky Shenanigans of Kaya the Moonhunter

Kaya the Moonhunter, and her retinue of Laris and the Warpwolf trio, faced off against a series of opponents.  After confronting Karchev, Skarre, Rasheth, and Doomshaper, Kaya emerged victorious.

So I participated in a local tournament run by Iron Agenda's Jason Flanzer (whom, if I may say, was a great TO :P).  It was a mash up of 25 point Mangled Metal and Killbox scenario (to discourage running away).  The tournament went four rounds.  All of my opponents were great, and it was a great tournament overall.

Here was my list (if you didn't already guess).

Kaya the Moonhunter
-Laris
-Feral Warpwolf
-Pureblood Warpwolf
-Warpwolf Stalker

Round 1

v.
Karchev the Terrible
-Behemoth
-Berserker
-Decimator


This was a bit of a bad matchup, as all of my opponents shooting couldn't hit me.  In turn 2, I capitalized on my feat to kill Behemoth and damage the Berserker.  The next turn, my opponent misjudged the distance between the Stalker and Karchev, and the Stalker was able to charge Karchev and kill him.

Round 2

v.  Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast
-Deathjack
-Nightmare
-Seether



I was deathly afraid of the Deathjack in this list (rightly so), especially with Perdition.  Because I went second, I was very afraid that Deathjack might be able to get a Perdition off turn 1 on my advance deploying heavies, so I deployed them at 14" instead of 16".  In turn 2, Deathjack tried to Perdition one the Pureblood, hoping to be within 5" to hit, but was barely out.  I then feated to kill the Deathjack, with the rest of the heavies too far away to reach.

My opponent then feated and ran his 'jacks up really far.  I responded by surrounding Nightmare, who was preying Kaya.  Next turn, Seether threw the Pureblood at Kaya, knocking her down.  Nightmare took a free strike from the Stalker, killing an arm.  Luckily Kaya was sitting on 4 fury, so she took 5 damage from one attack, and transferred the rest to her beasts.  Next turn, the Stalker killed Skarre.

Round 3

v. Dominar Rasheth
-Bronzeback Titan
-Titan Gladiator
-Titan Gladiator
-Titan Gladiator


I will preface this commentary by saying that my dice were absolutely glorious this game.  The average on two dice this game was 9, and on three dice it was 15.

In turn 2, I used Laris as an arcnode to put Dogpile on the Bronzeback, who was behind a big house seemingly safe from the Feral, then I feated.  Here, my opponent forgot to Counter Charge Laris, which would have prevented the channel.  So the Feral warped for Ghostly, charged the Bronzeback, and nearly killed it.  The Stalker charged a Gladiator, killing it.  The Pureblood went last, trying to kill the Bronzeback, but not enough damage (my opponent could have counter charged here as well, but forgot).

Next, Rasheth feated and repositioned his beasts.  Stealth seriously hampered his offensive spell output, as well as not being able to arc through a warrior model.  Next turn, the Feral finished off the Bronzeback, and I set up the Pureblood to be a piece trade.  A gladiator slammed the Pureblood into the Stalker, and rolled horrendously, leaving the Pureblood alive.  The Pureblood and the Stalker paired up against that Gladiator, and the Feral finished off the last Gladiator.  Win by Mangled Metal (or Tooth and Claw).

Round 4

v.  Hoarluk Doomshaper, the Rage of Dhunia
-Mulg the Ancient
-Earthborn Dire Troll
-Dire Troll Mauler



This game was the tournament finals, and for first place.  I had never gotten this high in a tournament, and by this time my heart was pounding.

The start of this game was just incredible.  We went two and a half or three rounds without making a dice roll, but I think by positioning and moving, the game was dictated by these rounds.  The action started when my opponent popped Doomshaper's feat, charging Laris with Mulg, killing him.  The Mauler charged the Forced Evo'd Pureblood, and couldn't do enough damage to kill him, because he needed to boost to hit with everything.  The dice weren't terrible, but he needed some good rolls to kill the Pureblood.  The Earthborn charged the Warpwolf Stalker, but was half an inch away from a successful charge (which, we agreed later, that he should have just pushed him with Mulg, and not worrying too much about Laris).  I think that the Earthborn failing his charge was the hinge the battle rested on.  Had he been successful, my opponent probably would have won.

The Stalker kills the Earthborn, the Feral kills the Mauler, and the Pureblood sprays Doomshaper (and my opponent forgot Protective Fit).  Next turn, Mulg is only able to kill the Stalker, just out of reach of the Pureblood.  To win the game, the Feral charges Mulg and finishes him off.



Overall, it was a great tournament, and I played against some amazing opponents.  I had some of the most tactically stretching games that I had ever experienced, despite there only being a maximum of 5 models on the table!  Many thanks to my opponents for the great games.