Before heading to CaptainCon, my intent had been to play Nemo3 a bunch and get familiar with the caster. But when I got an offer for a casual game, I immediately gravitated to the list with which I'm most familiar: Stryker1.
- (Stryker1) Lord General Coleman Stryker
- Squire
- Centurion
- Centurion
- Lancer
- Charger
- Storm Strider
- Journeyman Warcaster
- Charger
- Alain Runewood
- Cyclone
- Sword Knights (min)
- Arlan Strangewayes
My opponent brought a Stryker2 army.
- (Stryker 2) Lord Commander Stryker
- Stormclad
- Stormclad
- Captain Arlan Strangewayes
- Savio Montero Acosta
- Stormblade Captain
- Storm Lances (min)
- Stormblade Infantry
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard
- Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner
- Stormblade Infantry
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard
- Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner
- Storm Strider
This was the first mirror match I've ever played, against a very nice gentleman named Mike whom I met at CaptainCon. It was the first of two casual games I played there Friday night, and I had a blast.
It became immediately evident that I was playing at a bit of a disadvantage, because we'd each brought a storm strider, but he was playing in Storm Division, and I was playing in Heavy Metal. My storm strider would be completely unable to harm his entire army, and I started referring to it as a SadStrider.
With all the hard-hitting models in his list, an assassination was going to be my best shot.
The other thing I should mention is that firstly, we had nothing to use for a flag, and so we'd used a powerade cap for my flag, and a butcher model for his. Also, one of his storm lances broke, and only a bit of a horse leg remains on the base. Don't let those photos confuse you too much.
Deployment
Storm Division Turn 1
The entire army runs forward, StormLances going for a flank.
Heavy Metal Turn 1
I run my army forward, the centurion's polarity field protecting the SadStrider from a storm lance charge, the sword knights all getting pathfinder from Runewood and running into the zone, and the centurion putting up covering fire to protect the sword knights. Honestly, the sword knights are usually high-DEF fodder in this list, but why lose them earlier than I have to?
Storm Division Turn 2
(no photo)The storm lances run outward to an extreme flank position, and Stryker puts up deceleration. Stormblades dodge around the covering fire as best they can, killing some sword knights, then pop Iron Zeal. The storm strider, getting only a single power token, takes some ineffectual shots.
Heavy Metal Turn 2
I run my storm strider into a position to act as a roadblock from the storm lances, then find that the centurion can't charge his strider, so I push it as far forward as I can and put up a polarity shield.
A charger kills Acosta, the cyclone puts up a covering fire, and sword knights do nothing with their POW10 swords against Iron Zealed stormblades. Arlan scores 1 on my flag, but he's got only stormblades on his. No scoring in the zones.
(Storm Division 0, Heavy Metal 1)
Storm Division Turn 3
The lances charge into the strider, doing some damage. One unit of stormblades kills the remaining sword knights, and the other shoots up a charger. The strider shoots at my left centurion, then my opponent looks to have Stryker remove my lefthand centurion. He realizes that Stryker can't charge it, so he walks and uses velocity to get there, then overloads and wipes out the arcane shielded centurion. Unfortunately, this leaves him on zero focus. He runs a stormclad to try to block.
(Storm Division 0, Heavy Metal 2)
Heavy Metal Turn 3
Seeing what appears an easy assassination, I move the lancer up to 2.1" away from Stryker 2, which is inside the area where an earthquake deviation cannot miss. Stryker1 activates, and the boosted earthquake comes off without a hitch. For good measure, I add a damage-boosted arcane bolt. With Stryker2 hurt from his overload, this nearly does the job. A charger and the Cyclone finish the assassination.
(Heavy Metal win!)
(Storm Division 0, Heavy Metal 3)
Final Thoughts
- This Stryker1 list is the army I'm most familiar and comfortable with, and I'm learning that it really makes a difference. I'm a huge fan of the marshalled Cyclone.
- Clearly, my opponent's mistake was getting greedy and not fearing Stryker's earthquake assassination enough. Neither of us ever popped feat in this game. He'd underestimated the durability of an arcane shielded centurion, and was thinking that he'd have focus remaining after killing it, and could velocity away to safety. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that you can only use velocity once per turn.
- Facing a list which I myself have played before is an interesting experience. My own Stryker2 "StormSwarm" list is very close, using lancer/Rowdy in place of two stormclads, and adding Gibbs. It's an intimidating list.
- My opponent mentioned that he wanted to drop the Stormblade captain and add Rhupert into this list. I opined that I thought the captain was at his best when marshalling a stormclad.
