BrianMcG: Double Battle report: Greyjoys v Freefolk and Greyjoy v Targaryen

So Tuesday saw Steve "PsychoSte" Connor come round to mine to try out his new soon to be filth faction, House Greyjoy of the Iron Isles, before Thursday night at Justplay facing Aden "spykr" Greyjoy's with my Dragon heavy Targaryens...

For Game 1, I didn't want to run my triple Dragon list against Ste as he hasn't had many games with Geeyjoys, so resorted to Mance and his FreeFolk. I decided to run the Frozen Shore Bear Rider over a Mammoth, but still had my favoured dual Spearwives...

Free Folk Trappers with Mance Rayder - King Beyond the Wall (C) Free Folk Raiders with Tormund Giantsbane - Tall-Talker, Horn-Blower, Breaker of Ice Spearwives with Jarl - Advance Raid Leader Frozen Shore Bear Riders Spearwives Free Folk Raiders with Raid Leader NCU's Lady Val & Craster

CARL BLACK'S MADE THIS AWESOME DICE TRAY

Ste was looking unusually chilled and was getting his excuses in early for why he was going to lose. Didn't know his army, didnt know his deck, etc...

But with Vic as Commander, Ste's Greyjoys were straightforward and nasty looking on paper with a pair of Warsworn...

Blacktyde Chosen with Victarion Greyjoy - The Iron Captain (C)

Drowned Men

Ironborn Bowmen

Ironborn Reavers with Warsworn

NCU's

Beron Blacktyde, Wendamyr & Aeron Greyjoy

RANDOM SCENARIO: A FEAST FOR CROWS

TERRAIN & SET UP

Terrain L to R: Stakes, Weirwood, Bog, Wall

GREYJOY: Reavers, Reavers, Drowned Men at rear, Bowmen, Blacktyde Chosen

FREEFOLK: Raiders RL, Spearwives, BearRiders, Trappers with Mance, Raiders with Tormund.

TURN 1

Start of round i brought on the Jarl's Spearwives from outflank as Ste elected to go first...

Ste had Wendamyr take the swords for a token.

My Spearwives activated and destroyed the stakes on the left.

Aero took the Horses to move the Bowmen up, while Val took the crown to move the Spearwives...

They seized the left objective which would boost my hand size

Everyone favourite objective card...

Ste took the Letters so i played The Long Plan at the end of the turn to go fishing...

As I felt a plan next round forming so this would help with an early activation next turn

The bowmen had used a Wendamyr shift and activation to shoot shift to get in range on the Jarl's spearwives

I took two wounds despite being vulnerable...

As it goes without saying, I passed my first panic check despite the corpse pile...

BOARD AT END OF TURN 1

The Bear Rider had marched up and were in a good position to hammer the bowmen first activation. Tormund would take the right uncontested but I'd blocked in my left side raiders...

TURN 2

I activated the Bear Rider, moved up into the Bowmen's flank, the shifted and threw some spears. Ste had forgotten the could do that and he lost three men to the spear toss...

And another three from his failed panic check!!!

With half the unit gone, my Bears then mauled them, doing an auto wound and five more hits...

Ste did roll a pair of sixes for his saves, so had two men left before the panic check...

Oh yeah, he did!!! Two panic checks and two double ones with a three!!!

He decided he would use What is Dead may Never Die to keep my Bears pinned...

And got three back...

He then activated Aeron to take the Swords, but I played Wildling Diplomacy. He took them as felt it worth the risk...

Alas, the Bowmen died again, giving a corpse pile up near Drowned Men

I used Craster on the Horses to move the Bear Rider away a bit and avoid a flank charge. Ste took the letters so I had Val take the crown and move the Bear Riders further back

I'd done a good job smashing the Bowmen, and was sitting on two of the three objectives...

Ste was frantically checking his army list to work out some payback...

The Reavers made a charge using Rush of Aggression and dropped seven wounds off of the Bears

This allowed me to move up the Spearwives using Diversion Tactics. I was too far away to do the toss and charge, and though I mulled over a straight charge, I decided against it and brought up the Raiders behind them...

Ste charged in with the Blacktyde Chosen and dropped me to a single Bear

With some shockingly bad dice rolls

And then failed a panic check!!! Karma I suppose.

One wound left on my Bears was not good...

Still, I moved up the Spearwives again with Diversion tactics card two. They then did the spear toss

And caused no wounds on the Blacktyde but allowed the Bears to fail their panic... GENIUS!!!

I did kill two, and three more with a failed panic...

I was badly positioned, and I'd wasted the Bears. Should have charged the Reavers before the Blacktyde got in... Hindsight!!!

Ste then used We Do Not Sow on an NCU activation to get the Blacktyde to attack the Spearwives..

and then the other Reavers steamed in, which left me with two spearwives at the end...

END OF TURN 2

FREEFOLK 3 VP's (2 objectives, 1 unit)

GREYJOY 2 VP's (1 objective, 1 unit)

Board at Start of TURN 3

Ste had split my forces and was going to wipe out my centre in short order. I'd moved Mance left as the bears demise had left me open to Reavers who had switched to centre...

TURN 3

I played Endless Horde on the Spearwives as Beron took the Swords and influenced the Reavers on the left

Their demise generated a corpse pile and some reinforcements...

Despite Berons buff, I had to take the fight to the Greyjoys so charged the Reavers. I killed one and two more died to panic.

The Reaver attacked back, hitting on two's and caused seven wounds which I failed all of the saves for. And then they failed the panic. Ten spearwives dead. I activated Tormund to sit on the right before Ste took the bags...

And played Assault orders on Victarion's Blacktyde Chosen...

I got butchered by the attacks but passed the panic check..

But regrouped and reformed to bolster my unit...

I attacked back and dropped a rank before the Blacktyde then activated moving 50/50 to take th objective before rolling but poorly so I survived and had Craster heal them a bit.

Board at End of Turn 3

I was getting desperate, so had Mance march the Trappers right up ready for next round

END OF TURN 3

FREEFOLK 5 VP's (1 unit, 4 objectives)

GREYJOYS 6 VP's (3 units, 3 objectives)

TURN 4

I played Regroup and Reform had Val take the swords...

So Tormund and his Trappers ( I regrouped Mance away from battle) and shifted and shot into the flank...

I gave the Trapper/Raiders Co-ordination tactics in case the 2+ axe wielding Greyjoys did for me. And when they activated, the Raiders used the Traps. Alas, Ste burnt his tokens to get and extra " move and heal two wounds...

Before barreling into my Raiders engaged with the Blacktyde...

I used Craster to move up the Trappers towards the Drowned Men. I'd have them...

Aeron on the Bags gave Ste another We Do Not Sow attack on my two raiders. He even used Martial Training cos he's just cruel...

And guess who'd forgotten Victarion's main ability. Yup, the beasts overran into my flank and finished the Raider off there...

Very well played...

Tormund and the Trappers charged the Drowned Men and did a wound. Not enough to take the objective...

BOARD AT END OF TURN 4

Well I was getting slapped silly. Oh, and Ste then remembered he hadn't activated his Drowned men so I let him, would not change much I felt...

END OF TURN 4

GREYJOYS 9 VP's (3 units, 6 objectives)

FREEFOLK 6 VP's (1 unit, 5 objectives)

And to point out, the Drowned men killed 4 trappers and I lost 2 more to a failed panic. Embarrassing!!!

TURN 5

Ste took the horses to move Victarion and the Blacktyde Chosen up towards my Trappers. I took the swords...

I attacked the Drowned men again, but failed to hit. So Ste attacked back, killing another 3 trappers...

Tormund's plus two morale buff would have been fine if I wasn't on a corpse pile. And I rolled a three for wounds...

Ste was cock-a-hoop that his Drowned Men had battered Tormund and his Trappers. I was just ashamed...

I did try and panic the Drowned Men to deny them the objective...

But he passed just...

BOARD AT END OF TURN 5 (and Game)

Well, it was fairly comprehensive wasn't it

GREYJOYS 13 VP's (4 units, 11 objectives)

FREEFOLK 7 VP's (1 unit, 6 objectives)

A decisive victory for Ste and his Greyjoy's despite a very good first two turns when I took out the Bowmen. The Reavers and Warsworn combination was pretty horrific and I simply got battered in melee. The Greyjoy meat-grinder cut through the raiders and Spearwives and even the Drowned men did themselves proud. My much vaunted FreeFolk morale checks didn't show up after Turn 1. Ste is an aggressive player, so that list build suits his play well and he didn't let the bowmen's early demise bother him. He just went through me

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GAME 2

Against our veteran Greyjoy player, I opted to run Targaryen's with Dragons as it's most likely what I'm taking to the Welsh GT. My list was:

Unsullied Swordmasters with Marselen - Mother's Men Commander (C) Drogon Viserion Rhaegal NCU's

Illyrio Mopatis, Daenerys Targaryen & Pyat Pree

Aden went for a bowmen heavy force, but we elected for a random scenario and ended up with "Here We Stand"

Spykr's Greyjoy's

Ironborn Reavers with Dagmer Cleftjaw - Master-At-Arms (C) Ironborn Bowmen Drowned Men Ironborn Bowmen Lysene Sellswords with Euron Greyjoy - Crow's Eye Ironborn Bowmen NCU's Wendamyr, Tycho Nestoris & Rodrik Harlaw

Paul "Spykr" Aden

TERRAIN: Two corpse piles and two Weirwoods

GREYJOYS: Bowmen, Bowmen, Lysene Pirates, Reavers, Drowned Men at back, Bowmen

TARGARYENS: Drogon, Viserion, Rhaegal, Unsullied Swordmasters

TURN 1

I elected to go first and took the letters, while Aden used Horses to move the Bowmen on my right over towards the centre.

I then activated Drogon, who flew towards the Left side Bowmen but failed his 2+ charge

Aden took the swords to shoot with the Bowmen, but only scored two hits (as I'd weakened them when I took the Letters), and I passed both saves...

Having seen his Bigger Brother cock it up, Viserion charged the same Bowmen, this time using the Fire and Blood card to get the re-roll on the charge which was 3+...

Second time lucky...

Four died to the attack and three more to the failed panic check

Aden healed them off the bags before I swapped the House of Undying for Dracarys!!!

The Bowmen were reduced down to two, so used Raiding Call to add four more to their ranks from the nearby Bowmen

I'd played Blood of the Dragon on the the Swordmasters who shifted over out range of the right side bowmen

Illyrio took the crown and zapped the far left Bowmen...

But the Bowmen held firm

Aden brought Euron and his Lysene Sellswords over to flank Viserion next turn, while the Reaver and right side bowmen joined uo. The other Bowmen moved back ready to support attacking the Dragons. Rhaegal edged back to give the Greyjoys something to think about...

BOARD END OF TURN 1

TACTICS BOARD END OF TURN 1

TURN 2

The Lysene charged into Viserion flank, and took Sundering and Martial Training off Dagmar and the Reavers with Co-ordination tactics for 9 attacks hitting on 2's with re-rolls, sundering and precision. Aden wont thank me for saying it, but in typing this up, with Martial training Viserion should alos have been Vulnerable...

It could have made a difference as the seven hits only yielded 4 wounds...

I passed the panic and played Sudden Retreat to get Viserion away and give him the chance to heal...

Drogon activated and killed the left side Bowmen before Overrunning into the Lysene Sellswords

This attacked dropped the unit to a single rank

So Tycho was popped and a Wendamyr token used to heal before the Lysene activated off the Swords to attack Drogon (they lost a man due to Euron). Without sundering and in the front, Drogon only took a single wound with some poor attack dice rolls from Aden...

Daenerys took the bags to prevent more healing and swapped to Dracarys and attacked the Lysene again...

which dropped the unit to five men...

Aden retreated the five men away, so I swooped in with Rhaegal and killed 5 on the attack but they had healed two from the Drowned Men start of my turn....

Aden took the Horses...

And swapped it for a Wedamyr token...

He then activated te Bowmen and brought them up to block a Viserion flank attack on the Lysene

Which they did, but lost five in the initial charge

Before dying to a bad panic check roll...

However, Aden played What is Dead May Never Die to keep them in the fray...

The right side bowmen shifted up and loosed some arrows at Marselen's Unsullied...

I saved two from four hits...

And then two more from failing the panic...

Well, that's what happens when you move near corpse piles...

Wendamyr took the House of undying but elected to get a token. I had Pyat Pree crown attack the two bowmen

Near the corpse pile too

But Aden passed it with aplomb....

Using the Wendamyr token to shift the Reaver unit backwards got them into Rhaegal flank arc, so they charged in with sundering and re-rolls AND the vulnerable token...

All seven attacks scored wounds, so obviously I then failed the panic check to lose the last wound...

Dagmar and his Reavers surged forth up behind Viserion

With Rhaegals demise, Aden claimed two quarters to my one

END OF TURN 2

GREYJOYS 3 VP's (1 unit, 2 quarters)

TARGARYEN 2 VP's (1 unit, 1 quarter)

TURN 3

I had Pyat Pree take the swords and had Viserion attack the last two bowmen, easily killing them

I played my second Overrun (I got both in my initial draw) and went into the Lysene with Devastating Impact to give them a panic token...

Euron (stand in Stormcrow) barely survived, but survive he did. I fully expected a Reaver flank charge, but Aden played "Lust for Glory" on the Lysene for nine attacks hitting on 2+. Fortunately, he was weakened and missed two, and I did pass some armour saves as well as the morale check

I used Dracarys of the tactics zone to finally kill Euron and the Lysene before flying back to Drogon and denying the Reavers a charge as Viserion had two wounds left...

Dagmar again elected not to flank charge a dragon in Drogon so Drogon charged into him. Aden had moved the Drowned back away...

Aden then retreated off the horses, to threaten my Unsullied. So I withdrew the unsullied away from them and the Bowmen...

After a Wendamyr shift, Dagmar went for a 4+ charge but rolled a one...

I used Illyrio to heal up my Swordsmasters while Rodrik Harlaw went to help take a quarter too, as I flew Viserion in to score two quarters each.

END OF TURN 3

HOUSE GREYJOY 5 VP's (1 unit, 4 quarters)

HOUSE TARGARYEN 6 VP's (3 units, 3 quarters)

TURN 4

Aden didnt think a charge would work and he had Drogon behind, so he used the Horses to retreat away. I then took the Swords to use Devotees of the Dragon and brought on a unit of Freedmen

Aden healed up the Reavers with the bags...

Neither of us felt like making the first move over here...

So I tried and other Drogon charge and rolled another 1. It was a 4+ for the bowmen's flank

The Reavers moved away and my Swordmasters followed them up.The Bowmen activated and shot the Swordmasters for 4 wounds

So I took 3 wounds on the Freedmen and healed up four Swordmasters with Supply Aid at the start of my turn.

I brought Viserion up and nearly lost him to a Bowmen shift and shoot (we do not sow) but they were just out of arc. I healed up Viserion after with Illyrio. I scored three quarters to Aden's one...

END OF TURN 4

TARGARYENS 9 VP's (3 units, 6 objectives)

GREYJOYS 6 VP's (1 unit, 5 objectives)

TURN 5

I took the swords and brought on another unit of Freedmen to add more roadblocks

Aden shot up my Viserion after aWendamyr shift and 2" befor shooting. So Drogon attacked them killing eight in one fell swoop...

I then used Dracarys to finish them off after a cheeky crown zap on Viserion

Drogon killed them in melee, so Aden played What is Dead May never Die... And then failed the panic check losing all three men he'd just resurrected

With their demise, we played the game out scoring two more quarters each...

END OF TURN 5 (& Game)

HOUSE TARGARYEN 12 VP's (4 units, 8 quarters)

HOUSE GREYJOY 8 VP's (1 unit, 7 quarters)

That game was a lot closer than I'd have liked. Viserion should have died when flanked early but we forgot the vulerable token. I got lucky with the two Overrun cards, and I felt had Aden risked it when he had the option to flank Viserion or Drogon, who were both wounded and given he'd just one-shotted afull health Rhaegal, well, it could have been oh so different. Having said that, he expended a huge amount of healing to keep units in the fight, and it got quite tactical with the quarter ones.

OTHER UK EVENTS

I missed the CYMRU GT last year but is allegedly on a par socially with Scotland, so Greg and I are going. Definitely running Dragons now. Alas, the event is now sold out but there is a reserve list in case of drop outs...

WELSH GT