pButcher v Convergence (Syntherion T4)

Forge Master Syntherion (Tier 4 List) Corollary Galvanizer Diffuser Mitigator Mitigator Modulator x2 (linezapper) Inverter (meteor hammer) Monitor (sniper) Cipher (pie plates) Optifex Directive Algorithmic Dispersion Optifex

pButcher
War dog
Spriggan
Demolisher
Iron Fang Pikemen, officer and standard
Iron Fang Uhlan
Winterguard, officer and standard
Kovnik Jozef Grigorovich
Eliminators
Iron Fang Uhlan
Uhlan Kovnik Markov

After feeling that I needed a bit more oomph in the last couple of games, I caved and bought the Iron Fang Uhlans I'd been eying up at Battlezone. Wow - those things are not cheap. I rushed them out of the box, so all that made it to the table for this game were the ponies.
I was really looking forward to learning how to get stuck in with cavalry. Unfortunately, as we were setting up, Josh let me know he'd be shutting them down with Magnetic Hold, which reduces speed by 2, and, more importantly, means they can't charge. Ah.

 I'm looking at this photo, and can't work out a really good reason why I had the Uhlans on the left. Maybe I thought it was easier to get around that forest? Winterguard to protect my flag, Demolisher to get into center zone, Spriggan and Pikemen to push up and put pressure on right flank.

 Top of 1 - running up.

 Bottom of 1. As promised, Magnetic Hold goes onto the Uhlans, meaning their potential lethal charginess has gone. I'm quite please with myself, as I actually start thinking about strategy at this point. I figure that the Uhlans, with +2DEF for base to base, have the capability to be pretty tough to remove. So, I have 3 units, plus the demolisher, which have the potential to give him trouble. So, I'm going to try to get on my flag with Butch, put pressure on his flag to keep Syntherion from scoring, and make him come through my whole army to keep me from eventually winning on points. Not the most exciting strategy, sure, but it's better than my usual "I have no clue".

Next turn, Pikemen charge, more to put pressure on the flag than anything else. The Uhlans move across in front of my flag to create a shield. Markov takes out the arc node, but leaves himself horribly exposed to a counter-charge next turn.

Bottom of 2 - Convergence grind away.

Next turn, I feat, but without a huge amount of success, I come close on several lights, which doesn't achieve much, except for teaching me that auto-heal can be pretty tough. The remaining eliminator got through the middle to make a nuisance of herself in the back line. One of the first times I've got any decent work out of that unit. The Pikemen mini-feat after attacking, getting into shield wall, hoping to hold the center.....

 .....they don't. Smoosh. The eliminator gets in on Syntherion, doing a bit of damage. Not enough to make a difference, but it kept Convergence on their toes.

 Things look bad here. OK, things are bad. But I came really close to popping off several of his Jacks. I thought I'd cripled them. Auto-fixing meant I was very wrong about this. 

 Eventually they pushed through and got to Butcher. I ended with 3 control points.

 I really enjoyed this game. I'm getting used to being routinely smashed, but felt like I had a fair idea of what I was trying to achieve, even if it didn't work out. I think tanky lists might be something I play around with for a while as I try to get to grips with strategy. They ponies did a remarkably good job holding up the left flank. Not quite as flashy as what I'd hoped, but not as useless as I thought they'd be when the spell hit.