As I said, it was a 15 point game.
My list:
Adeptis Rahn +6
Phoenix 10
Arcanist 1
10 Houseguard Riflemen 8
> Riflemen Officer and Standard 2
Mark's:
Kommander Sorscha +5
Beast 09 11
6 Winter Guard Infantry 4
> Winter Guard Officer and Standard 2
Winter Guard Mortar Crew 3
The table was fairly basic. Some houses around the perimeter with an open center. We both chose to use infantry to show Caleb and Dustin how each part of list works (Caster, 'jacks, solos, and units). Mark won roll off and deployed first. He deployed the guards and mortar crew to my left, hugging a house, I think Sorscha was more or less in the middle, and Beast 09 was in front of her, acting as a shield.
On my side of the table, I deployed my riflemen in front of a house, hoping to take advantage of their long range (14"). I had Rahn and the Phoenix on the right side of the table behind a house.
On first turn, all of Mark's stuff ran up. I'll say this now. Mark has been doing reading or something. It seems like Warmachine just makes sense to him. Aside from the occasional reminder about rules, his list ran like clockwork. Anyway, the guard ran up, with Sorscha and Beast behind. He used her Veil of Mists to provide concealment.
On my side, I fired away with the riflemen, having all but two in range. Due to concealment, I only managed two casualties, but not terrible. Rahn and Phoenix moved up and to the side.
In the next turn, Beast was close enough to charge, thanks to his affinity with Sorscha. He charged the riflemen, but Mark misjudged the distance, and so thresher only accounted for three wounds. Manageable. The riflemen and mortar crew were out of range, and the mortar went wide. Sorscha ran up behind a house on my left, keeping Beast just within control.
On my side, the riflemen backed away from Beast, and towards the guard. The officer delcared ""Whites of their Eyes" and I rolled extra hit dice at them. I got two more wounds. Phoenix was close enough to charge Beast, but Rahn wanted more leverage. The Arcanist power boosted the Phoenix, giving him +2 to melee dmg, and Rahn then TK'd Phoenix into a position in Beast's back arc. Fully charged with focus, the Phoenix rushed in, choosing to go b2b. He did something like 26 damage overall, knocking out Beast's cortex and open fist. Not that the cortex matters, thanks again to his affinity to the Ice Queen.
Next turn, the Bear showed its fangs, and nearly ended the game. Sorscha winded herself around the building, feated, then charged Rahn. I was quite thankful I had left Rahn sitting on three focus, or the game would have been over. She expended all of her focus trying to beat on Rahn, but even at DEF 5, she could get past his ARM 19. Sitting at three health on Rahn, I was in a bad postion. The guard moved up (I had forgotten they had the officer with them. He grants them grapeshot, 8" spray) and grapeshot the HELL out of my riflemen, killing all but two and the standard bearer. The riflemen managed not to panic, though. Beast did the best he could against the Phoenix, but managed only four damage to his shields.
On my side, it was basically do or die, so I had Rahn keep all of his focus. Spending one to shake stationary, he then force blasted Sorscha 4" back, then charged in, and swung and swung, pushing her back at total of 7" over the turn, including the force hammer. When all was said and done, Sorscha was at three health, with nothing in position to provide assistance. The arcanist, being stationary, was just out of range to give the Phoenix a focus, and so Phoenix did negligible damage to Beast, and the Riflemen were a lost cause.
On Mark's turn, Sorscha got back up, and charged in, doing 9 damage to Rahn and ending the game. Victory to the Motherland.
Things I learned:
DON'T underestimate Sorscha's mobility. Seriously, bitch is fast. Also, a review of my tactics later revealed that on my "do or die" turn, what I should have done was popped Rahn's feat, then cast Force Hammer, as that does a STR 12 hit, which would have been boosted, and taken the chance of not pushing her 3" away, which is what I wanted for my charge bonus. I should have played the math. She was likely to be pushed 4", and taken an extra hit. For the extra focus it would have cost me to cast the spell, it would have been worth it, in my opinon. Ah well, live and learn.
A discussion with Mark after the fact had us both agree that the fact that we were talking through the game with the other guys, and answering Dustin's many dithering questions (yeah, the guy gets on my nerves. Caleb's cool, though) had us both forgetting some things, and taking way too long with others. Still, it was good to show off the game.
Mark had to take off after that, but I stuck around. While we had been playing, Caleb had been gluing together his Legion box, and Dustin was proxying the Circle box set... using 40k models. I explained the importance of using Warmachine models, as millimeters make the difference in this game. He didn't seem to get it. I promised he would and let him some models. Over the next two hours, I guided them through a game of Hordes. As it turns out, my time spent gaming against you left me in good standing to teach Hordes. I only had to consult the Hordes book twice, because I forgot about riling and reaving.
I'll say this about Lilith. She's damn mean, and fast. She has Buswack, so she gets to make a full advance before advancing. So, Bushwack, shoot with her bow, which in turn allows her to cast a spell against that target regardless of LOS or RNG, then advance back behind cover. Also, I impressed the two of them with Kaya's mobility using spirit door in conjunction with her feat, which won Dustin the game. They were both satisfied, and were thankful for my non-partisan advice. Also, I'm not going to deny that I got pretty excited watching their game unfold.
