Monday 26 November 2018

Warden Vs Steelheart. Reflections in the glass


Within Shadespire time is not linear or circular. Time is other.

Within Shadespire time fragments with each interaction. Each possibility reflected and played out.

This is how Lee and I once again ended up playing Stormcasts against The Petitioners again.

However this time with the house in a more livable state I was able to host this time.

 Game one and the boards are set. Both Lee and I go for boards with blocked hexes.


Having drawn 'battle without end' I decide to get my Skellies up the board so they can be resurrected as soon as possible.


Steelheart leads by example and charges forward to dispatch The Champion.


This leaves Steelheart open to the counter attack but Steelheart stands resolute in the breech.


The rest of the Stormcasts rush forward to support their leader.


With a swift playing of ploy cards Angarad takes point.


A flurry of blows from the Skellies is unable to kill Angarad as she bullies her way through.

Lee uses his Glory to tank up Angarad  . . . . .


 . . . . before unleashing her on the Warden.


Thankfully the hit is not enough to send the Warden back to Nagash.

Outraged by this attack the Prince of Dust rushes to the Wardens rescue and REALLY wants to wallop Angarad!!

Eat my Crits!!!!
This sends Angarad pinballing into a petitioner armed with a Shadeglass sword. The playing of a ploy card allows the Petitioner to attack out of sequence and dispatch Angarad before the ringing in her ears even has a chance to stop!

That's right I stabbed a woman in the back. I'm not proud of myself
Suspecting Lee has contained or some such I send the Reaper forward to occupy Lee's half of the board.

Steelheart takes off after the Reaper but is unable to pull him down.


This sees me take the first game 9 glory to 5.

Game two sees the board set with no blocked hexes and the board has a really 'open' feel.


Once I notice Lee has deployed Steelheart forward of his supporting Stormcasts I go against my better instincts and deploy the Warden far more forward then usual to see if I can goad the Steelheart into charging and isolating himself.

Will Lee take the bait?


YEP!!!!


I have a real squeaky bum moment but a string of curses makes me open my eyes to realise that Steelheart has missed!

Unfortunately the playing of a ploy card means Lee gets to re-roll the attack. Lee passes the dice to my 6 year old daughter who is watching intently and she re-rolls the dice.

The re-roll is successful and I send my daughter straight to bed as punishment ;0)

Realising the rest of my warband are too far away I make peace with losing the Warden and try to think of a plan B.


Obryn surges forward in support of his leader.


In another deft move Lee gets Steelheart behind the Warden!!


and then misses again!!


If you look closely it looks to me like the Warden is laughing ;0)

The rest of the Stormcast continue to storm forward.



Despite the blessings of Nagash (or Lee's poor rolling) The Warden is still unable to escape his fate and is crushed in the beginning of the third turn.


This sees Lee take the game 9 glory to 6!

With a game apiece we set the boards for the decider.


Lee goes for a much more aggressive set up.

Lee surges forward with Steelheart again.

Fortunately the Reaper wounds Steelheart in the retaliation but Obryn crashes forward and crushes the Champion in revenge!


I immediately resurrect the Champion using a ploy card and then use the 'inspired' Champion to finish off the weakened Steelheart!


Obryn is ambushed in the centre of the board and dragged down thanks to the superior numbers of the Skellies.


With Angarad burning with rightous fury she makes a bee line for the warden and an epic duel begins!


With superior numbers at the start of the third turn I wonder if I can pull off all three objectives I have pulled from the deck?


I win the first turn by the slimmest of margins and have the Warden move the Skellies to occupy several Objectives.

Lee uses his first turn to rush the Warden with Angarad!


The epic duel between the Warden and Angarad continues!!

Upgraded to the gills on additional wounds the Warden is feeling invincible. However by the third action phase it becomes apparent to me that the Warden is coming off the worst in these exchanges.

This sees the Warden do the heroic thing. . . . . and charge out of threat distance!


The wardens final attack finally pierces the armour of Angarad who is dispatched.

This sees me achieve all three of my objectives and take the game 16 to 3!


It is really telling how important the drawing of the right cards at the right time is.

I had a nightmare in the second game where I essentially pulled the cards out in the reverse order of game three which meant I could not launch any kind of offence and saw Lee win 9 glory to my 6.

My current deck is only of use if I draw the cards in a favorable order. Maybe I need to tweak the deck and look for lower scoring objectives which can be scored throughout the game rather then relying on a big third phase? 

2 comments:

  1. Sounded like 3 fun games mate. Your poor daughter. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a good knife edged contest. Nearly each game was decided on one little thing being played correctly or a single poor roll. Yer my daughter had to be punished for her treachery ;0)

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