Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Payload

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

When I first read the Steamroller 2024 packet and came to the realization of what Payload actually was, it immediately became my favorite of the scenarios. I can't guarantee that will remain the case after I've actually played them, but the notion of pushing an enormous explosive payload towards an enemy building is so narratively cool that it makes the scenario just work.

Payload includes two 50mm objectives, two 40mm objectives, one 30mm objective, and two flags, which of course become the scenario terrain pieces.

The inclusion of one 30mm objective rather than two immediately caught my attention. The 40mm objectives are placed symmetrically - the first player will begin 22 inches from the opponent's 40mm objective, and the second player will begin 17 inches from his opponent's 40mm objective, due to the second player's further deployment. The flags and the 50mm payload objectives are also symmetrical. But then you have this crazy 30mm objective which sits only on one side of the board, just nine inches from the second player's deployment zone. This feels like a fairly large player two advantage, especially since capturing that area of the board will make it easier to push the payload right into the scenario terrain.

When a player scored a 50mm objective (these objectives I'll refer to as "the payload") he moves the objective three inches toward the opponent's objective terrain. Furthermore, the payload is pushed an additional inch for every other objective that the player scored that turn. 

As if that weren't enough, there's the Made to Haul rule, which allows a cohort model a free 5 inches of after-activation movement directly towards it, allowing that cohort model to potentially score (and push!) the objective again on their opponent's turn. The movement is five inches rather than just three to allow for extra movement that the objective may have gotten from scoring other objectives, but because of the was the rule is worded, it's also possible to use that movement to move a model other than the one pushing the objective. This should allow for some interesting movement shenanigans.

I can easily visualize a mob of models blocking the payload from making it those last few inches. It's such a dramatic image. I've already spoken to a friend with a 3d printer and suggested creating 50mm objectives that look like a giant pile of explosives, specifically to use for this scenario.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining two Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

 

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Wolves at Our Heels

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Wolves at Our Heels is one of the craziest scenarios in Steamroller 2024, and introduces a number of surprising new aspects.

The scenario elements in this scenario are 50mm, 40mm, and caches. The objectives are symmetrical, but like Recon MK4, the caches are not the same distance for each player - player two again has a slight advantage.

There are two different things about Wolves At Our Heels which give the scenario extra kick. The first is the The Wolves Advance rule, which is what gives the scenario its name. The killbox advances each turn, and casters must move further and further forward. The killbox on each side begins at the standard twelve inches, but moves up to fourteen inches at the top of turn three, sixteen inches on turn four, eighteen inches on turn five, twenty inches on turn six, and if the game actually goes into turn seven, the killbox will end at an insane twenty-two inches, leaving casters just a four inch area in the center of the table. The killbox moves at the start of player one's turn, and killbox is checked for each player at the end of their own turn, so you'll at least have the time to get out of the killbox as it advances.

The second special rule on Wolves at Our Heels is the one which I find to be a far bigger deal. In this scenario, the 40mm objectives move, and they move only when scored. Then, one time, at the bottom of turn four, you measure the distances of each 40mm objective from the table edge it's moving toward, and the player who pushed the objective furthest scores 3VP, which is a huge sum in Steamroller 2024. It nearly guarantees victory. Thus, pushing that objective can be thought of as the scenario's primary goal. Furthermore, since that objective is moving towards rather than directly towards the opponent's table edge, you might be tempted to move it on a diagonal, but that's going to work against you when scoring happens at the bottom of turn four.

This also means that impassible terrain which might block the progress of a 40mm objective being pushed across the table can be a huge deal. If one side of the table has a building that a player would need to push the objective around, then choosing table sides suddenly has a lot more value, as nobody is going to want that side.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Battle Lines

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Today, we'll be looking at the second scenario in the packet, Battle Lines. Battle Lines introduces a new twist to scenario play: the objectives move. While not as mind-bending as some of the later scenarios in this packet, moving scenarios do add some complexity.

The scenario elements in Battle Lines are 30mm and 40mm objectives, and two flags which will become terrain scenario elements. 

The scenario elements in Battle Lines are actually completely symmetrical, which is unusual for steamroller 2024.

Scoring begins, as always, on the second player's second turn, which gives player two the first chance to score. Starting then, after points are scored, the player ending their turn must move one of the table's four objectives three inches toward the opponent's table edge.

As straightforward as this sounds, there's a lot to think about and take note of here. Firstly, unlike other scenarios, in Battle Lines, an objective is moved every turn regardless of whether it was scored or not. Also, the player ending their turn can choose any of the four, which is important to note because in other scenarios only some objectives will move. 

Scenario elements are moved towards the opponent's table edge rather than directly towards the table edge. This is important to note, because as long as you're moving just a half millimeter towards that table edge, you can take the rest of the movement sideways.

The last thing to note is that when you move objectives, they'll move through any models in their way if they can get completely past them. If not, the objective must stop its movement short. This means that if you want, you can theoretically block the objective's movement. It's unclear to me whether you can have it hit a building and stop, or whether you're then required to have it move to one side in order to get its full three inches of movement.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

 

Making Sense of Steamroller 2024: Recon MK4

Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 is out, and some of the new scenarios are outright bananas. After taking a close look at each of the new scenarios, I thought it would be worth spending a little time to give each a quick analysis and review.

Today, we'll be looking at the first scenario, Recon MK4, which is easily the most straightforward Warmachine scenario in the packet.

One of the more substantial changes to Steamroller 2024 is the change to deployment zones. The first player will now deploy at only six inches rather than seven, which was previously the case. The second player gains an inch, now deploying at eleven inches rather than ten. Thus, the total distance between the two players remains the same, but one player gains an inch, and the other loses an inch. We can hope that this may alleviate first player advantage.

Killbox is still twelve inches, and the game is still fixed at seven rounds.

Gone now are circular and rectangular zones. They are replaced by 50mm objectives, 40mm objectives, 30mm objectives, 20mm flags, and 20mm caches. The 50mm objectives are scored by warjacks and warbeasts; models must be within 3" to score or contest. 40mm objectives are scored by units. All members of the unit must be within 3" of the 40mm objective to score it, and a model within 3" can contest. The 30mm objectives are scored by a solo within 3", and contested at 3" as well.

The cache is a new scenario element. Caches can be scored by any model, but that model must give up its combat action while base-to-base with the cache in order to score it. A scored cache is removed from play, and can thus be scored only one time, similar to destroying an objective in Steamroller 2023.

The flag is an extremely interesting new scenario element in steamroller 2024. Before deployment, each player moves their own flag to a terrain piece within five inches of that flag. It cannot be a hazard or a piece of scatter terrain, but any other terrain is valid. That terrain is now a scenario element which can be scored by any two models within two inches. You heard me right - any two models. So you might have a warbeast and one model in a unit within two inches, and that's good enough to score it. If the terrain piece is something like a cloud or a forest, it can also be scored from within the terrain piece. However, while bunkers and guard towers can be scenario terrain elements, models cannot score from within a bunker or guard tower.

Looking at the Recon MK4 scenario, it's pretty straightforward.

 

There's just one more thing I'd like to point out about this scenario: the caches are not equidistant. One is 20 inches up from the red side, and the other is eighteen inches up from the blue side. This means that while the first player has 24 inches to go in order to reach that cache, the blue player has only 17 inches to go, and that seven inch advantage seems pretty significant.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the remaining Warmachine scenarios in Privateer Press's Steamroller 2024 packet!

Battle Report: Cygnar Storm Legion vs Orgoth Sea Raiders

Thursday nights at our FLGS, The Portal, are becoming a thing. With that in mind, a friend and I headed over to the store to push models across a table. I brought my newest purchase, the Cygnar Storm Forge Cadre, brand spanking new and still unpainted.

Cygnar (Sparkhammer) vs Orgoth (Sabbreth)

Cygnar

• Mechanik Adept Sparkhammer
• Courser
• Stryker
• Zephyr
• Zephyr (proxied by a harpoon-looking thing on an appropriate base)
• Specialist Tyson Vas
• Storm Callers
• Storm Callers
• Storm Callers
• Storm Lance Legionnaires
• Storm Lance Legionnaires

Orgoth

• Sabbreth, the Eternal Annihilation
• Tyrant
• Tyrant
• Jackal
• Jackal
• Jackal
• Jackal
• Warwitch Coven
• Warwitch Coven
• Therion Vhanek
• Strike Reavers
• Vulcar Forge Master
• Vulcar Forge Master

The terrain was bonkers. A massive plateau in the corner, and next to it a factory of some sort with corrosive runoff abutting a wall. On the opposite side, a forest with a small round gobber brewery, a large crater, and a bunker. In the center of the map, a lava pit, a small wall, and a house on the far side.

The scenario was the preview of Battle Lines - steamroller 2024. Two flags, two 30mm objectives, and two 40mm objectives went onto the board. the flags made the objective terrain pieces the bunker and the small round building.

Deployment

Orgoth won the roll and chose to go first. Cygnar placed its defenses. Two walls were placed centrally, with the primary goal of preventing any model from being dragged by Orgoth's harpoons. The spike trap was placed near the house furthest from the camera.

Orgoth Turn 1

The Orgoth battlegroup runs forward in a clump, with Therion Vhanek staying on a flank behind the pumphouse, perhaps thinking about the objective on the other side of the large mesa.

Cygnar Turn 1

Cygnar runs forward, Sparkhammer casting many spells: deflection, arcane shield, mobility, sunhammer, and inhospitable ground. The cost for all those spells would normally be 12, but with Sunhammer's arcane calibrations, they total only 7 focus. It's at this point that I realize that mobility only helps my battlegroup, and sunhammer and inhospitable ground are unlikely to matter this early. Perhaps I shouldn't have left my caster on zero focus. At least I've got him hidden behind the gobber brewery, flanked by two jacks.

One zephyr sprints up the flank towards the objective behind the plateau. I'm careful to position all my models behind walls and in cover to avoid the two tyrants with harpoons capable of dragging them in. Their defense is very high. For example, the stormcallers in the crater are DEF 13, plus 4 for cover, plus 2 for force barrier, plus 2 for deflection. DEF21.

Orgoth Turn 2

This is the most critical turn for Orgoth, and my opponent agonizes over what to do. Shooting is ineffective with the high defense, my models are out of range of a charge, and running forward feels like suicide.

In the end, he takes a few ineffective shots, and stays hidden.

Cygnar Turn 2

It's the first scoring turn, and it looks like the objectives are mostly uncontested. I'm happy to leave Orgoth in the same difficult position they'd found themselves in last turn, but perhaps I can make it even more difficult.

The stormlances closest to the Orgoth blob move three inches forward, take shots, and reposition back to exactly where they were. The zephyr behind the building likewise takes its shots and repositions back, ending exactly three inches from the objective. In the end, three strike reavers are dead.

All the stormcallers stay hidden, the second unit of stormlances run up behind the central barrier, and the zephyr moves up ahead of the 30mm objective.

Orgoth scores a point for the terrain objective on the round hut. Each zephyr scores an objective, the stormcallers score the bunker terrain objective, and the stormlances behind the barrier score two 40mm objectives for a total of five points.

(Orgoth 1, Cygnar 5)

Orgoth Turn 3

Orgoth is in an extremely difficult position and will have a difficult time not losing this turn. Since they can't contest the objective behind the plateau, they'd need to score four points this turn to not lose, which means getting rid of all three stormlances on the central objectives.

Sabbreth feats and casts a bunch of spells, but the dice do not cooperate. Many models run to contest, but in the end Orgoth is unable to contest the bunker terrain objective, and only scores their own terrain objective. Cygnar scores the bunker and the objective behind the plateau, winning.

(Orgoth 2, Cygnar 7)

Cygnar Victory!

Final Thoughts

• Having a battlegroup-centric caster with a small control area really hurts an army's scenario play.
• Cygnar's defenses ended up being a big deal. I took barriers primarily to prevent dragging, but the cover was extremely helpful as well.
• This is the first time I've played Sparkhammer. I didn't get to try out his full rack of shenanigans, but deflection on models with force barrier is very nice.
• This scenario has two 40mm objectives right in the center where a single small unit can easily score both simultaneously. Contesting them every turn is very important.