This week in Immoren: Onwards

The Journeyman League is long since done and dusted, and it's onwards and upwards. I didn't really get a great handle on the Convergence in the larger games, but a bit at a time I'm beginning to understand them.

I think one of the issues is that I was still trying to cope with the differences between Warmachine and Hordes. At the lower levels where resource management wasn't spread so thin, I was doing quite well, however once you add in a couple of units and solos that may need a little boost, it's a bit tricky.

Still, I'm settling in to it now and I do enjoy the challenge of the faction.

I'd had most of my success with Aurora. She is a little bit risky, but in the right circumstances can pull off a cheeky 'caster kill out of seemingly nowhere. However, in the games where I have lost with her, mainly during the Charity Tournament, I over extended her and wasted her feat.

I usually use her feat purely to benefit her, and not the army as a whole, but realistically if I don't think that I am able to pull of the kill, I shouldn't even try and instead focus on manoeuvring the force about. 

I've not gelled with Syntherion. I know people have a great deal of success with him, but it's almost like I don't want to succeed, that's how badly I seem to fair. Instead I'm now trying to get the hang of Lucant, and in a bit of a surprise move to some, Axis. 

The latter I had played a few times before the Journeyman started in 35 point games and whilst I was aware that his playstyle wasn't as intricate as the others, and that he was a lot more frail than he at first seems, I did enjoy him. He played similar to my Grissel2 list and so it wasn't as much of a radical transition as perhaps I'm finding Sytherion to be. I've honed his lists a bit as well and so hopefully that will help.

Lucant is a bit tricky for me as well. I've only played him a few times, one of which I lost very quickly, and so I have yet to really get the most out of him. I feel as though his lists almost demand an Axiom in order to get the most out of Positive Charge, and so I sense the building of a Colossal in the near future. 

[Insert] I have now played Lucant again since the bulk of this post was written and this game went much smoother. In the end I won on Deathclock, which whilst perhaps not the most traditional method of victory, is maybe something to consider.

The list I used was as follows:

Essentially I used the axiom to take the bulk of the punishment then used the Directive to repair it each turn. 

The Reciprocators died fairly quickly as I made some obvious mistakes with them, and keep doing so to be honest, but their loss didn't do much to swing the battle in my opponents favour.

Other than that, it was just a case of weathering the storm. I'm not sure it will work every time, but we shall see.

In other Warmachine news, I have decided to go to the ETC in 2015, tickets permitting. I've not decided for certain whether to take Trolls or Convergence, which is partly the reason for the continued progress with Cyriss. I'm also keen to take a fully painted army, and well, we all know what I'm like, it may be a close run thing. 

If I opt for Trolls, I will likely go for Runes of War with one of my lists. I've always liked Doomshaper, and whilst I realise that people plan for Runes, I also know that it is a solid enough force, and one that I think I will be able to get my head around quite easily.

For the other list, I have been discussing options with Dave, and he has come up with a couple of Lists: one for Jarl and one for Hunters Grim. I'm a fan of both Warlocks so I look forward to trying them out. I've got, or have on order almost all the things he's put in the lists, with the only current exception being Braylan Wanderheart which until her release I will have to proxy anyway.

So despite keeping my options open, the aim is to try and focus initially on the Convergence. I've not had as much time to get used to them as I had done with Trollbloods, and so I feel that if I don't give them enough attention now I won't have enough time to build up my knowledge and experience. 

Finally, I'd like to say a quick thank you to Dave for running the league and the tournament, to the players I faced during them, and to Luke for making these awesome Character Jack/Warbeast cards for each participant.