Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm - Game Seven

 After my last game, I had to do some serious soul-searching... What am I doing WRONG?! Am I JUST THAT BAD at playing these games?! Are the warbands just THAT unbalanced?! I've just had my ass handed to me three times in a row by Amanda playing her first three games (11-6, 12-7, 12-6)... I definitely think the Dread Pageant - which I played the first two of those games with requires a level of finesse and/or experience that I just don't have... Khagra's seemed pretty bad ass and I thought... well... I wasn't at all expecting a win... but it would have been nice to not do so BADLY!? 

So, Sunday afternoon, while Keira was at Dance class I sat in the hall with my Khagra's deck and note book and did some serious thinkifying... 

Made all sorts of notes... Thinking about what objectives worked together and which had too many moving parts and which gambits helped work towards some of those goals and which were just too situational. 

Still more notes - which upgrades might actually be useful and which were... less so... and then some general ideas and things to look for in replacements or additions to the decks.

One of the BIGGEST mistakes I made was the board set-up - putting the two end-to-end. My thought had been to plant two objectives in the back, where it would be harder for the Witch Aelves to get to and get Razek and Cragan on them and desecrate them at the end of the Action Phase and score one of those objectives... Also being deep into my territory I thought they might stay that way for the rest of the game and i could spend the next two Rounds playing a more agressive game pushing everyone into Enemy Territory and desecrating their tokens and scoring more things... The problem is, All of Khagra's ravagers go rather slower than all the other warbands we've played with. basic move of three - increasing to four (for some of them) when inspired - whereas Morgwaeth's and Dread Pageant (And I think even GArrek's Reavers) all start at four and increase to FIVE!? Planting Razek and Cragan deep in my own territory meant they were effectively out of the game. They would have to spend two full activations (with a clear path) just to GET to enemy territory - all the while leaving their leader and wizard exposed! All to score an objective cards worth ONE GLORY - I somehow thought that while I'd be scoring only one, SHE'D somehow not be scoring much either if I was playing sort of stand-off-ish... except I didn't... 

Which brings me to my next biggest mistake - leaving Khagra and Zarshia exposed and on their own. They LOOKED indestructible with their shield defence and 4 wounds... but they are so totally NOT!!! Especially when Morgwaeth had CLEAVE to start with!? (not that it was Morgwaeth that took them out in that first game... but still... they got ganged up on and ganked...

I also had a good look at their cards. There were a LOT of cards that were VERY situational - almost to the point of being useless. I actually canned five of them and, when I got home from Keira's dance class had a look through the generic cards to find some replacements that MIGHT be more useful. I also thought of looking for some different gambits and upgrades... 

Conveniently, I'd spent some time organizing all the Generic cards I've acquired. I happened to have some 9-pocket pages... from... something (I think I might have picked them up while we were playing Frostgrave, so we could put all our printed off spell cards into a sheet and have them all handy to look at, instead of rifling through a handful of them all the time... at least that was the idea, I'm not sure anyone actually EVER used them) and the binders Amanda had salvaged from the trash bin at work when there was a big purging of paper documents. The paper got recycled, but they just binned the binders!? The Blue one is for Nightvault cards, the red one for Beastgrave and Direchasm. 

In the end I got rid of the following... 

Hurricane of Violence - an objective scored in an end phase gaining 2 Glory if friendly fighters' attack actions took two or more enemy fighters in enemy territory out of action in the preceding action phase. I mean... it COULD happen... Taking out two in a turn is not guaranteed, though.. and then taking them out in Enemy Territory. If I don't draw this on a particular turn do I concentrate on harder opponents hoping ot take one of them out and hold off on taking out multiple weaker ones on a later turn when I do draw it? IF I draw it? Too many moving parts - wanted to look for easier things... 

Malevolent exploits - A surge objective, scoring 1 Glory after playing your third or subsequent power card in a single power step... again too many moving parts... actually have to have three useable power cards in your hand... and use them all in ONE Power step...?! That seems unlikely, surely there are other easier ones? 

Power of Chaos - Another surge objective, scoring 1 Glory after Zarshia deals damage that takes an enemy fighter out of action... Her spell attack only does ONE damage - even when inspired. There is a card that may or may not give +1 damage to a spell attack IF a crit is rolled in the deck... otherwise the target has to be previously wounded and only having one wound left and then Zarshia actually has to wound them... Nope. 

Dark Approval Yet another surge, scoring 2 Glory if the leader makes an attack action that takes an enemy leader out of action... I mean it COULD happen...? 

Power Reclaimed - A Gambit that can be played if Khagra is out of action allowing Zarshia to take over as leader, giving her +1 Wounds and +1 wizard level,  persisting until she, herself, is taken out of action... Kind of requires that you have the card when Khagra it taken out of action... and Zarshia isn't... 

Blazing Runeshield - an upgrade for Khagra, Razek or Cragan that means spells cannot deal damage to them. There are no wizards in Morgwaeth's Blade-Coven and therefore no spells... in terms of creating a generic deck that can take on anything, not all warbands have wizards and even then it's only one... so it's a card that defends you from ONE type of attack, from ONE particular fighter, that exists in only half the warbands... seemed pretty weak to me. 

To replace them I added...

Underdog - a hybrid objective that scores 2 Glory an end phase if  an opponent either a) has the Primacy token, or b) has scored 3 or more objective cards more than you... considering the last game it seems likely I'd be able to score this... 

Unafraid - an Objective that scores 2 Glory in an end phase if each surviving friendly fighter is within 2 hexes of one or more enemy fighters.... I mean, I only have to move guys into position... and not die... or, even if I do, their position doesn't matter anymore. I just have to move them into position and NOT kill off too many enemy. The way I've been rolling, this seems like the easiest 2 glory Objective Card EV-AR!!

Scrum - another surge objective scoring 1 Glory if four or more fighters on the battlefield are in a single group in which each fighter is adjacent to at least one other fighter in that group... kind of went with the idea of keeping my gang close together an supporting each other and kind of works with Unafraid. 

Hidden Purpose - another surge objective scoring 1 Glory if your warband holds two or more objectives that's one of the ways I desecrate them - be on them at the end of the Round (for Razek and Cragan) or be on them and take someone out!

Cloaked in Shadow - an upgrade that, while the upgraded fighter is adjacent to no other fighters, has +1 Defence. I figured it might help out Zarshia - once Unafraid and/or Scrum were scored, she could stand back and try to not get shot by Kyrae or stabbed by Morgwaeth's range 2 glaive...?

Mazzig's Many Legs - a Spell action that, if cast, allowed me to choose another friendly fighter within 2 hexes of Zarshia and push the chosen fighter up to 2 hexes. Being able to help move warriors around, without giving them move or charge tokens seemed more useful than her spell attack action (which, if she fails at, deals one damage to herself!) 

Haymaker - A gambit that gives +2 Dice for the first Attack action made by a friendly fighter in the next activation. They cannot make defence rolls until the end of the round... but... in desperate times... OR used as part of a last activation...? anything that might give my warriors a slightly better chance at rolling a success... or probably just give them an opportunity to roll MORE of the one result on the dice that doesn't help them... Need to think positive here... 

This, technically, added one card to the Power Deck. Power Decks need to have AT LEAST 20 cards and you can't have more gambits than upgrades. I ended up with 11 upgrades and 10 Gambits, so all was good. I think Morgwaeth's Power Deck currently has 12 upgrades and 11 gambits (I'd added a few a week or so ago that I thought might work well with her holding objectives theme). 

I also had a good look at the assorted board options and thought about where I'd want to place the warband - keeping them CLOSER to each other and closer to the enemy!  

THE GAME

I won the roll off and had Amanda set up first. I'd have less choice in game board, but more choice in how they were oriented and where I might be able to set up warriors in relation to the other board - Ideally close together and close to the other board to get into enemy territory and mess with them (now that I think about it, this was probably less necessary, as I'd canned one of the objectives that required me to do stuff in enemy territory... I did still have Fierce Conquerors, though - requiring three warriors in Enemy Territory AND two objectives desecrated... so I was still going with the get in there a fü¢k $h!t up!!) 

And so... boards all set up... drew our cards and Amanda's already plotting my DOOM!

I pulled Brutal Desecration, Unafraid and Underdog for Objectives. So... my objectives were to desecrate an objective token, get everyone close to the enemy and start losing the game - there are things I can DO!! 

I won the roll off for warband set up and had her go first. 

All set up and ready to go! 

ROUND ONE

I won the roll off to choose who goes first and... let Amanda go first. I figured it might give me a chance to react and make sure I would get to move up my warriors to get close to her Murder-Aelf-Ladies

Kyrae slithered across to an objective and took a shot at Khagra. Works for me! Taking out enemy on Objective markers is how I desecrate things! AND she was within 3 hexes of Khagra - who COULD potentially one-shot Kyrae.... which would take one of her more powerful warriors... score a glory... seize the Primacy token... I'm getting ahead of myself, though, this all relies on me being able to actually roll something USEFUL!? Oh, and she's shooting at me!? 

Missed!

(Whew!) 

Oh, and then Amanda played Fanatical Faith - meaning the MOST damage I could do in the next activation was ONE... so... No point in charging Khagra right in there... might as well try and set something up for later in the Round.. AND (I think) she played Catechism of Murder to inspire Kyrae. 

Instead, Razek charged up to Khamyss and took a swing at her - +1 Damage! 

Khamyss charged around Razek and slashed at him, twice, with her combo attack - missing twice!? Holy CARP! Another enemy on an objective - even CLOSER to my warriors!? 

So Khagra did charge up to Kyrae and I used Spurred On to bring up Dour Cragan as well. Khagra missed Kyrae, of course... but things were setting up quite nicely for a solid smacking down. 

Morgwaeth charged in to attack Khagra... I didn't make note of damage, but I think she DID do two damage to Khagra at this point... but her positioning worked for me, because then three of my warriors were within two of her (and she weren't about to die this round)... so I brought up Zarshia and attacked Khamyss (having been wounded by Razek earlier I only needed to do ONE damage to take her out - which, conveniently, is exactly how much damage Zarshia does with all of her attacks) I actually did the attack with the staff, as she had TWO supporting fighters!? 

Zarshi took out Khamyss!! 

Woo! 

+1 Glory for taking out Khamyss... I also desecrated the Objective she'd been holding, which allowed me to score Brutal Desecration - a surge objective that scored another +1 Glory for desecrating an objective! 

Taking out Khamyss was also good because when she inspires, she gets NASTY. With only two wounds, she's a bit of a glass cannon.  

With those Glory I upgraded Khagra with Unearthly Charisma (which give +1 attack dice to any friendly fighters within 2 hexes! Handy us all being within 2 hexes and all!) and Zarshia with the Cloak of Shadows. 

Amanda was already making proclamations that she wasn't going to be doing so well this game... I wasn't QUITE ready to agree, as I know how quickly these things can go sideways... I've ended the First Round ahead in a few games only to have my ass handed to me over the next two and lose 12-6, so.... 

Kyrssa charged Razek and did 2 damage!? Ouch! She also played Carve a Rune to score a spent Glory Point. 

Then Cragan - who had only MOVED earlier, smashed Kyrssa (with Razek's aid)... and an extra die from Khagra's Unearthly Charisma... missed... because this is me we're talking about... 

ROUND ONE - END PHASE

How things were looking at the end of Round One. 

Amanda wasn't able to score any Objectives, I scored Unafraid (for everyone being within 2 hexes of an enemy) for +2 Glory! Used one of the Glory to Upgrade Zarshia with Grudging Defence, which meant she was always On Guard (counts dodge and shield on defence rolls and can't ever be forced back). 

I was actually winning 4-1

ROUND TWO

Amanda won the roll-off and went first. 

Morwaeth attacked Khagra and took her out... so much for Unearthly Charisma being any help... She also played Swift Sacrifice which meant she got a total of +2 Glory out of that kill. She gave Kyrssa a Crone blade and Morgwaeth the Crimson Shade, inspired Morgwaeth and gained the Primacy token.... Yikes!  

She probably STILL thought she was "losing"

With some of the Glory gained at the end of the last round, I upgraded Cragan with Ruinous Might (which I'd just drawn at the end of the Round, but couldn't upgrade until a power step) which gave him +1 damage - back to having a warrior that COULD one-shot any enemy warrior but Morgwaeth (if only I could roll dice to save my life!?) 

Amanda also played Drilled to Perfection - to give Morgwaeth and Kyrssa Guard tokens.

Dour Cragan one-shotted Kyrssa - gaining one glory and seizing the Primacy token from Amanda. I upgraded Zarshia with Gifted Sorceress (which would allow her to re-roll one magic die every time she tried to cast a spell) 

Morgwaeth attacked Razek and took him out (+1 Glory!). She inspired Lethyr and used Headlong Fury to move Kyrae off the objective and into contact with Zarshia! 

That was just too close for comfort, so Zarshia fü¢ked off out of there to an objective marker... where I could play Ritual Desecration - to desecrate that objective... just in case... 

Morgwaeth stabbed at Cragan, and missed. 

I played Ravaging Advance, which allowed all friendly fighters not in Enemy Territory to push one towards enemy territory... This moved Zarshia off the Objective and into Spell Attack range of Kyrae. Figured I might as well - the spell attack was risky, but sitting there unable to do anything and within range of Kyraes shooting didn't seem like the best place to be! 

The push also brought Cragan close enough to charge onto the furthest Objective Marker and attack Lathyr - and TAKE HER OUT! +1 Glory - this also desecrated a third Objective, which allowed Cragan and Zarshia to inspire and flip their cards! Also, having one-shotted Lethyr I seized the Primacy token BACK! 

Morgwaeth Chaged Cragan and stabbed him for +3 Damage. 

For my final Activation, Zarshia tried a spell attack on Kyrae... it seemed  a reasonable risk, now that I had Gifted Sorcerer and could reroll one die. Each die had a 66% chance of rolling either a success or Critical hit... but getting two successes matters not when Kyrae rolls a crit for defence. Zarshia took one damage. 

ROUND TWO- END PHASE

Again, Amanda didn't have any End Phase Objectives. I was able to score Ravagers All ( +1 glory for all Friendly Fighters being inspired) and Razed Realm (+1 Glory for two Objective Markers being desecrated) and then a further +1 Glory for holding the Primacy token. Still winning 9-4!! 

ROUND THREE

Amanda won the roll-off again and kicked things off by having Morgwaeth stab poor Cragan to death. You can see why he's so Dour. +1 Glory. She upgraded Kyrae with Death Dancer... because she could... 

I also did a bit of upgrading in this first power step with some of the Glory I'd accumulated and some fancy new Upgrade cards I'd just drawn... I gave Zarshia a Blasphemous Cuirass (if a Shield result is rolled in a defence roll, damage reduced by one to minimum of one) and Mazzig's Many Legs (cool spell action, mentioned above - though there was no one to cast it on). I also had a Hellforged Sword... but Zarshia was the ONLY one I COULDN'T give it too!? 

I thought I'd do a spell attack again, I mean, what are the odds I could fü¢k that up again. Unfortunately I was thinking real-world statistical odds based on number of dice and sides that equal successes and the theoretical probability of Kyrae rolling crits again and me rolling only successes... but with no crits... 

My HOPE was that I'd damage her in THIS activation and then move onto the nearby objective and attack her again and finish her off and desecrate a FOURTH objective... 

But this is ME rolling dice that we're talking about here... 

Yeah... Zarshia dealt herself MORE damage. Down to one wound. So much for the Blasphemous Cuirass being of use...  

So Morgwaeth pranced across to the nearby objective and stabbed Zarshia from a distance. 

And that was that... +1 Glory...

Amanda, bored, while I insisted on playing through my last three activations - hey I had ONE Objective Card in my hand I knew I'd be able to score... I couldn't remember what the others in the deck were and if there might be something I might be able to score - So I discarded and drew new Objectives until the deck ran out (there wasn't anything). 

She stated it would be VERY anti-climactic if she LOST after utterly destroying my warband. But that's not what the game is about - killing things - it's about playing to the Objectives!!

ROUND THREE - END PHASE

Amanda did have THREE Objective Cards to score - Triumphant Stance (+2 Glory for having one of her fighters on an objective and NO ONE ELSE on an objective), Blessings of Khaine (+1 Glory for two or more surviving friendly fighters being Inspired), and Daughters of the First Temple (+1 glory for two or more enemy fighters being out of action)

I scored Glorious Slaughter (+2 Glory for three or more enemy fighters being out of action)

We'd initially mis-counted and thought we were tied at 11 Glory. Tie breaker #1 is if one side has warriors on the table... and that was Amanda... so we'd declared her winner.  (Tie-breaker #2 is not who has the most fighters remaining on the table, but who holds the most objectives) 

"HA! SUCK IT, BROWN!"

Amanda, ever the graceful victor. 

It's probably a good thing she doesn't play MMOs, she'd probably be the type that says something like "Wait, you're a DUDE!? HA! Go to the garage and fix my bike!"

(I'm kidding)

(mostly)

At the time I didn't really care. At least I'd not lost as badly as the last few! 

(Afterwards, like, while I was writing this and totalling things up, I realized she wouldn't have retained the Primacy token to the end of Round Two and thus had only had tenGlory Points to my eleven... so... I actually won!) 

I don't think I'll bother mentioning it to her.  

(I did edit the BGG entries)

I'm working on Myari's Purifiers and would like to try them next, but I'm not sure they'll be done by the time we play next. I'll have to get Finnegan to play and try out Kharga's Ravagers against Garrek's Reavers or the Dread Pageant.