Tales from the Madlands: Don't Fear the Ripper

By Jukey, in Runewars Battle Reports

Two batreps here today, second one is really quick, so I'm sticking them together.

First up, Church brings a very odd Uthuk build to the table.

My List:

'Turvy Durvy'

199/200
Deepwood Archers [42] 3x2
Tempered Steel [3]
Support Aymhelin Scion [4]
Tactical Starling [2]
Close Quarters Targeting [3]
Total Unit Cost: 54

Prince Faolan [36] 1x1
The Spirit Sword [6]
Etharyon of the Ailatar [5]
Total Unit Cost: 47

Ventala Skirmishers [30] 2x2
Maegan Cyndewin [10]
Tempered Steel [3]
Metered March [2]
Hedge Shroud [2]
Total Unit Cost: 47

Ventala Skirmishers [30] 2x2
Tempered Steel [3]
Metered March [2]
Hedge Shroud [2]
Total Unit Cost: 37

Aymhelin Scions [14] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 14

Church's List:

'Canned Spammed Thresher'

198/200
Kethra Alaak [34] 1x1
Bonecaster [8]
Total Unit Cost: 42

Viper Legion Archers [18] 2x1
Aim of the Serpent [2]
Total Unit Cost: 20

Viper Legion Archers [18] 2x1
Aim of the Serpent [2]
Total Unit Cost: 20

Spined Threshers [18] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 18

Spined Threshers [18] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 18

Spined Threshers [18] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 18

Spined Threshers [18] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 18

Spined Threshers [18] 1x1
Total Unit Cost: 18

Flesh Rippers [22] 2x1
Dead Sprint [4]
Total Unit Cost: 26

Objective and Deployment:

Place the Explosives isn't exactly meant to go with Long Canyon, but it makes a very aggressive game.

4iFxo67.jpg

Setup:

Church deploys most of his army first due to being a thresher spammer and having lots of dials.

y3DLgiP.jpg

I set my deepwoods to stay safe behind the terrain Church wants to hit, while relying on the Ventala and Faolan to hold the rest of the field.

vB12aca.jpg

My Ventala carry the explosives, while Church assigns the Rippers and a Thresher.

Round 1:

Church holds most of his army back to avoid the long reach of the Ventala, while stampeding his Rippers for the objective.

4botRA5.jpg

My Ventala rain javelins down on the Rippers, reducing them to one figure. It's still enough to threaten the objective though.

qFvpGQ5.jpg

Round 2:

Meagans Ventala charge the Rippers before they can score. Faolan then reforms them to prepare for the Thresher onslaught.

s0tuEnH.jpg

The second Ventala unit puts out 3 wounds on the leading Thresher.

Church has some difficulty closing the gap with his Vipers, while the Threshers slowly trundle towards units they cannot hope to pin down.

CW7jt2J.jpg

Until the Threshers thin out, I have no intentions of completing my objective.

Round 3:

I missed the pictures this round.

The Threshers press in, but continue taking wounds from the shifty Ventala.

Faolan keeps things spinning and shifting.

Round 4:

The Vipers finally get some shots off at Meagans Ventala, dropping a tray off.

The Threshers get a bite, but dont perform very well.

KPQkrsh.jpg

Faolan finds himself in a poor position, getting targeted by 2 Threshers, both of which can threaten him before the Ventala can respond to support him.

rfvrwP3.jpg

My deepwoods are too far back again and can't support the field very well, however, they continue providing Thresher deterrence on their side of the board.

Round 5:

The vipers shred Meagans Ventala unit.

One thresher flanks Faolan, scoring a wound.

Kethra lands a second wound on Faolan and Meagan by damaging a Thresher.

pAo0j9E.jpg

Faolan does an i7 attack on the Thresher and smokes it in one shot.

The deepwoods finish another Thresher.

kIaR2NS.jpg

The remaining Ventala begin chipping down the nearest Thresher.

Round 6:

Meagan falls to the Vipers.

The last uninjured Thresher makes a break for the objective terrain, while my Ventala do the same.

LvGHaSK.jpg

The wounded Thresher turns to follow the Ventala, while Faolan swings around to try to catch him.

Kethra gets a wound on Faolan from across the map.

OEk1jXg.jpg

The Scion repositions to prepare for the oncoming Thresher.

The Vipers push forward.

Round 7:

Kethra pulls a dirty trick and kills Faolan via damaging the Thresher. She actually delivered on her skill.

Church gets the Thresher to the terrain and scores his objective.

The Scion and Deepwoods make short work of the Thresher.

8SV1Rc2.jpg

Sidenote: The Thresher furthest to the right is not a piece in play.

My Ventala take a hard hit from the Vipers, then move into the terrain, scoring the Objective.

7zhaKYg.jpg

Round 8:

The Ventala are able to take a tray off the Vipers.

Beyond that, nothing can really interact at this point.

Vc0liBg.jpg

Latari win, I forget if it was an 8/3 or a 7/4

Afterthoughts:

This is a good example of the oft feared Thresher spammer utterly failing. Threshers are good, but they whither when faced with approaching a wall of arrows.

Kethra did a surprising amount of work this match. Her skill triggered often enough put out significant damage....it's still not good.

My latari list (Turvy Durvy) is going into my collection of 'good' latari lists.

The Vipers performed well as usual. If Church had moved them in sooner, they could have swayed the game in his favor.

I need to stop over protecting the Deepwoods. They can dump a lot of damage, except when they can't shoot anything.

-------------

Game 2:

Alright, that felt good. Now its time to put something stupid on the table. I've been meaning to test out the Warden of horn and branch, so, no time like the present.

My List:

'Warden Test'

199/200
Maegan Cyndewin [36] 1x1
Malcornes Bequest [6]
Martial Magic [3]
Total Unit Cost: 45

Ventala Skirmishers [18] 2x1
Rank Discipline [4]
Total Unit Cost: 22

Ventala Skirmishers [18] 2x1
Rank Discipline [4]
Total Unit Cost: 22

Ventala Skirmishers [18] 2x1
Rank Discipline [4]
Total Unit Cost: 22

Deepwood Archers [30] 2x2
Warden of Horn and Branch [5]
Fire Rune [7]
Simultaneous Orders [2]
Total Unit Cost: 44

Deepwood Archers [30] 2x2
Warden of Horn and Branch [5]
Fire Rune [7]
Simultaneous Orders [2]
Total Unit Cost: 44

Church's List

I don't have the list, but it's fairly basic

Kethra

Beastmaster

3x 2x1 Rippers

2x 2x1 Vipers

Objective and Deployment:

We wanted something simple, that usually means defaulting to Conquest, with a balanced deployment.

We did Standoff.

yMgCEar.jpg

Setup:

This game is going to be direct, and fast.

rZU9GSz.jpg

Round 1:

All **** breaks loose on turn 1.

Church charges the rippers and beastmaster headlong into the waiting Ventala.

IAD2o5A.jpg

Meagan goes for a flank.

Round 2:

Between the multiple ranged attacks and warden triggers, 2 ripper units and both heroes are dead.

qGLtXFZ.jpg

The Latari losses are considerably lighter.

Round 3:

The Vipers give back what the rippers took last round. My Ventala get shredded.

vxzuJXB.jpg

Round 4:

As good as the Vipers are, it's too little, too late.

iZrsEJ4.jpg

That was an odd, short game.

Afterthoughts:

By no means should this battle be taken seriously. It does not mean warden is good...

However,

2x1 Ventala with rank discipline pack a very affordable punch. Multiple units of Ventala in an army might as well be paired with Warden for potential bonus damage.

I can see bringing warden as an option if I have 5 spare points in a champion-free Deepwood or Darnati block. It will rarely perform well though.

Church should not have charged the Ventala fortress. It's fairly suicidal to push against an army with so many blockers and triple-tapping archer blocks. If Beastmaster and Kethra had lasted longer, they would have put some good damage out.

A more serious test will be needed to better quantify Warden.

--------------

Thanks for Reading!