I went with the following two lists:
1. Damiano Kingmaker
- 2 Manglers
- 3 Nomads
10 Trenchers + Grenadier
2 x 10 Steelhead Halberdiers
Free Kell and Orin
2. Ossrum Hammerstrike
- 5 Gunners
- 2 Blasters
Siege Crawler
Thor + Avalancher
6 Forge Guard
Tactical Arcanist Corps
Free 2 Artilleries
For this first game, my opponent was Juha Paananen with Trollbloods: Borka and Doomy3.
Obviously, they are both good against gunlines (Borka has Windwall, and Doomy3 has immunity to knockdowns, plus is generally good in attrition against Ossrum). I chose Damiano, and he chose Doomy3 (he correctly anticipated that I'd take Damiano, and he'd probably roll over his infantry-heavy Borka list).
His list was:
Power of Dhunia
Doomy 3
- Free Runebearer
- 2 Bombers
- Mauler
- Mulg
- 2 Axers
Free 5 Whelps
Free Northkin Shaman
Min stone with elder
The scenario was spread the net.
Trolls won the roll off and opted to go first.
I remembered from some earlier games that trolls can have some strong shooting, and so went for the side which has a forest in he middle, in order to be able to hid Damiano behind this forest. I realized that this is also the side that creates a difficulty for unwinding my halberdiers and maybe even the heavies - yet still went for it.
He deployed with a bomber on either flank, and the stone slightly to his right. I deployed pretty much symmetrically.
My plan was to swing the heavies to whichever side he swings his, and force an engagement, and then just grind it out with the help of my Feat, also using Road to War for added mobility in doing so.
His first turn is pretty straightforward. He just runs forward with everything.
I cast Road to War, put Surefoot on Trenchers and advance. Trenchers move to block LOS to most of my army for Bombers, while the ones in the back dig in to avoid suffering Blast damage. Halberds advance behind them, althought the ones on the left flank have quite a bit of difficulty doing so. I figure that he is likely to go more for the left flank where I do not have good halberdiers presence, and so I swing three heavies there and only two the other way.
He tries shooting with bombers but doesn't get good targets, and kills nothing. I overextended the two forward trenchers, and so he is able to get an axer on them, killing both but having to force for all fury to do so. The rest of the army advances, much more cautiously this time.
I decide to take his axer. The play is to shoot with Kell, then trigger Road to War with Trenchers (killed two models from stone unit, btw), move a nomad closer (with full focus), charge first with Halberds and then the Nomad. Unfortunately, I forgot to shoot with Kell as the first stage. As a result one of the two shots (which I made in the end) missed and Axer stayed on one box. I advanced my Halberds into contesting positions near his flag, moved my heavies in to threaten the middle, and realized that it would be great to score on my own flag, as he is unlikely to start contesting it any time soon. Unfortunately, Orin is more than 12" away, and so he just moves towards the flag to get there my next turn. We score one point each.
Doomy collects all but one fury from the right flank Bomber, and unluckily for him, the Bomber frenzies, attacking the Mauler.
As a result, he is unable to do a lot of work against my infantry on the right flank. On the left flank, however, he reduces my halberds to two men (with the help of his feat also). Mulg is positioned in the open with admonition and ARM21 from stones. The feat means also that he will heal d3+3 after each of my attacks. We score one point each again.
Next turn needs some explaining.
My first move was to ensure a points lead. I run Orin to the flag, and I run halberdiers to contest his zone: one engaging the bomber, and one in the far corner.
Secondly, I intend to take his two heavies. To do so, I need to deal with Mulg's Admonition and then use my Road to War to compensate. Focus goes to the two heavies on the right and the red mangler (I don't upkeep Surefoot, only Road to War). Damiano advances into his zone and feats.
I activated halberdiers first, and the first model to move charged Mulg in the direction indicated by the red line. He then had a choice whether to move right or left (back direction blocked). Right means being charged by a lot of other halberdiers, and he opts for left. I then charge him with only one more halberdier, directing others at other targets - more to tie them up than anything else. Of course, the halberdiers combine their attacks, to avoid giving him more attacks that heal him. POW 16 is not too bad even against his ARM 21, and the rolls are such that he doesn't heal all the damage dealt by this first attack.
I then activate trenchers and trigger road to war by killing one more stone guy. This allows the green nomad to advance. The trenchers also move in such a way as to free up the paths towards Mulg's new positions for both manglers and the green nomad. Both the green nomad and the green mangler attack Mulg. All damage rolls are boosted with focus (Mangler has his charge attack free, too) - in order to maximize damage per attacks and minimize the amount of attacks. Mulg still has a few hit points remaining, although not much. I switch to axer. The blue nomad kills the Axer with one attack. This triggers road to war for the red Mangler, which advances in the straightest way towards Mulg. He then activates, walks into 2" range and kills Mulg.
I score two points, while he doesn't score any.
He tries to remove my contesters but can't commit any beasts except the bomber there. The halberdier that engages the Bomber has DEF17 against shooting and 15 against charges, so he has to use Bomber (boosting) to remove him. This leaves the other one alive. He also goes in with Mauler against my heavies but only manages to remove one nomad (ARM22 is a thing). As a result, I score two points again while he scores zero. This means it's game over: all I need to do is end my turn immediately for a 2-8 victory on scenario.
Conclusions
1. Spread the net is a very live scenario, which can run away very quickly if one is not careful. Having solos is critical here, as well as contesting enemy flag in a meaningful way. The scenario rewards aggresive play quite strongly and can really punish careful advance.
2. I definitely made a mistake here when choosing sides. The benefit of the forest was not enough, and the hindrance of all the difficult terrain (especially on my left flank) was too much. I will definitely adjust my evaluation of terrain in future games. Mainly, the LOS-blocking terrain to hide behind is more valuable closer to the center of the table, and the hindering terrain is less damaging closer to the back edge.
3. I will remember that axers have thresher. Also, when making cloud walls I should check melee ranges more meticulously.
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