Munich WM/Hordes Tournament Vol. 02 - Round 1 (Battle Report #1) Baldur2 vs Helynna

Prologue
Last weekend I attended a small tournament in Munich. There were supposed to be 16 Players, but unfortunately only 13 were able to show up. So there would be a "BYE" every round, which was really sad.
I decided to play Circle Orboros this tournament and I brought Wurmwood and Baldur2 as my pairing. The tournament was D&C1, so both lists had to be played. In case it would end after 3 rounds (which was possible) you only had to play one list. I only had played Wurmwood three times and Baldur2 once prior to the tournament, so let's see how it goes.
First round I was paired against Retribution of Scyrah piloted by a newer Player from the ever growing Rosenheimer Meta. He brought Helynna and Ossyan. I was sure he would drop Helynna so I chose Baldur2. I had never played against Helynna before and this match-up looks like it will be an attrition fest. Let's do this.


Lists
Baldur2 (Baldur the Stonesoul) -30
- Pureblood Warpwolf 17
- Pureblood Warpwolf 17
- Feral Warpwolf 18
- Megalith 20
Sentry Stone & Mannikins 5
Sentry Stone & Mannikins 5
Shifting Stones 3
Wrong Eye (Wrong Eye & Snapjaw) 17
- Snapjaw 0
Swamp Gobber Chef 1
Gallows Grove 2

Magister Helynna -30
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr, The Seeker 4
- Discordia 18
- Manticore 14
- Manticore 14
- Manticore 14
- Chimera 8
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Arcanist Mechanik 2
Lanyssa Ryssyl 4
Dawnguard Sentinels (Leader & 9 Grunts) 18
- Dawnguard Sentinel Officer & Standard 4
- Soulless Escort 1


Deployment
I lost the roll and got to go second. I went with the side with the two forests, so I was able to hide Baldur if nessesary.

Game
Retribution stuff runs up the table. Helynna casts Rhythm of War.

I brick up and put up a wall in front of my spell warded Purebloods. Two Mannikins run to engage two of his Manticores. Sentry Stones put up forests, so there is no LOS to Baldur, Megalith and the Feral.

Two Mannikins get killed. Two Manticores put up covering fire. Sentinels run with mini feat up. Helynna feats. Discordia brain damages a Pureblood and Wrong Eye, so no Submerge and Star Crossed next turn.

I know it is hard to accomplish things with Helynna's feat up. ARM 23 Sentinels are a thing. But I want to try to kill as much as possible, cause I believe they are the greatest thread to my beasts. My dice agree and between a Pureblood spray, Megalith, the second Pureblood in melee and Mannikins (!!) all but three Sentinels die. Mannikins run to contest his zone, Gobber Chef runs within 12" of the enemy zone, so he could contest the next turn if needed. Wrong Eye runs. Baldur puts up a wall (the Proxy base is a Feral btw) and pops Feat.

Helynna puts up Hand of Destruction on Megalith and tries to kill him with a Manticore, but fails because of Feat. Sentinels and a Manticore have trouble hitting the Pureblood behind the wall and fail to kill him as well. He clears his zone to score one point, but otherwise doesn't accomplish much. I feel I am in a really strong position now.

It's go time. Feral puts up Primal on the first Pureblood. The second one kills the two remaining Sentinels, ignoring the standard bearer. Magalith doesn't do much, cause he is filled with 4 fury. Second Pureblood goes in and kills Discordia, Snapjaw kills the Chimera. A Mannikin contests his zone. Gallows Grove ports within 5" of his zone, so he could contest next turn. Baldur puts up a wall and camps 2.

Sadly there is a picture missing. The Manticore finally kills Megalith, but makes a positioning mistake, so he could not see my objective. With two remainig focus and P+S20 he would have killed it on average dice. The second remainig Manticore kills Snapjaw and he clears the zone for a second control point.
I primal both my Feral and Pureblood and kill both remaining Manticores. A Mannikin spray kills an Arcanist. Gallows Grove ports and Gobber Cherf runs to contest his zone. Score is 0:2 for Retribution, but the attrition battle is won and my opponent has only 2 minutes left on his clock.

As he has no time and options left my opponent concedes the game.

Victory for Circle Orboros

Analysis

A really good first game and a good start into the tournament. Most important, no BYE for me. The game went my way, when I was able to kill almost all Sentinels under his feat and feating myself afterwards. We talked about it and we both agreed, that my oppenent feated one turn too early. If he had stayed outside of my thread ranges and just chilled, I would have been forced to come to him and maybe have to feat first. That would have been a completely different game. But a really good, interesting first game and with a really nice opponent. On to round two.