Written Conquest Battle Report – Old Dominion (Mounted Strategos) Vs. Yoroni (Kitsune? Maybe?)

Had the chance to sneak over to my friends house after work on Sunday and throw down an epic game of Conquest TLAOK (FB is calling to me, but I can’t leave my baby TLAOK). We had a great battle of Old Dominion Vs. Yoroni on Forlorn Hope

Here are the lists

I really love the Mounted Strategos Warlord ability, it coves a lot of flaws for me in the early game of Old Dominion, namely, I can hit harder before getting Dark Power levels. I think after a few games with it that the Xhiliarch Warlord is just flat better? Covering speed is probably more important than covering early game damage. Strategos Warlord might be a sleeper hit with patented “Never Not Bastion” Praetorian Guard. But there is something amazing about swinging with Varangian Guard and knowing, on average, Every Single Dice will hit.

I like this scenario a lot for my list, there are two lanes, I am good at the protracted fights, and there is decent terrain to cover my flanks and avoid Brittle. My plan this game is just ram jam right up each side.

I apologize, I am five days after the game and I cannot remember the Relics/Masteries. I will update if I can.

Here’s the thing, Yoroni is SUCH a boogeyman right now. They are very strong, they ignore a key limiting factor of the game (Command Stack), and pound for pound Two Man Tengu Ayakashi are the most infuriating unit in existence (This is specifically because Ty refuses to ever roll less than three 1’s anytime they shoot :D)

Ty has a lot of staying power and ability to outflank me. I really want to tie down the Birbs with my Cavalry and let my infantry clean up zones. Let’s see how it goes!

Early Game

Round Two – I don’t bring any lights and as such didn’t take a picture of Round 1. I voted to instantly ignore my plan of “Kill Birbs with Cavalry” to greed for some points round two and eat some space up on the board (Spoilers. Bad Idea)

Round 3 – This round sees me win Supremacy and kill 2.99 Domaru-Damashi (Keep track of the lil’ dirtbag though, he retreated and will be crucial in the late game) the Left Birbs come around the obstruction to shoot into the side of the Legios and do Terrible Things, Brittle hurts stay safe out there. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my Athanatoi on the objective for 3 rounds, so I opted to put them in a threatening position and call it good. Legios on the left sacrifice so I can set up some counter attacks into a Big Blob (Trademarked Yoroni BS) right side sees a similar plan, but I opt to just hold my Centaurs outside of March Charge range, Ty just walks up and steals the zone with the power of Beef. It’s hard to see but there is a Birb unit right between the two monsters.

Mid Game

Round 4 – The theme of this game is that there is always another Birb. Kataphraktoi just…Eviscerate the Birbs and get shot in the Flank and take so much damage. The Blob on the left Clash then Charges and ruins my plans, it was very close to being perfect though. Middle Athanatoi get into the business of Spider Hunting, and another unit of Athanatoi reinforces the center. Varagian Guard show that they are only surrounded by Fear and Dead Men as they just PLOW through the Blob on the right. And in a surprising move to me at least, the Yokai March, Charges into the flank of my Legios.

Round 5 – Thanks to the supporting Athanatoi and Katas I kill Left Blob and send the Mounted Strategos and Friend into the zone to kill Birb. Middle becomes a disaster and I have my first major misplay, Athanatoi should’ve never been lined up against that objective. It should’ve been Prodromoi. Got too greedy for points. Varangians Clash, Charge staying on the zone and prepping the Yokai to meet whatever counts as His God next round. Legios live thanks to the Yokai now hitting Varagians….but they then just heal the Varangians (Tier 4 healing is WILD people). My middle Athanatoi just whiff so hard into the Spooder-Lady or they would’ve done some good work. Athanatoi are great into Yoroni Monsters, because let’s be honest. They’re on Evasion anyway.

Round 6 – Sadly the left flank has completely collapsed, wanna know why? THE STUPID DOMARU-DAMASHI. Points are decently close at this point with Yoroni in the lead, but I am soon to take over the right flank. And the Varangians are still large enough to hold both zones.

End Game

Round 7 – This is sadly how it ends up. The Birbs escape and my plans are foiled. I don’t go first this round (Again, if you have to go first, you’re in a bad spot. Just so we can all improve). My only real hope was to go first and send the Athanatoi into the Birbs on the left and then I probably win. Birbs on the right have free reign as I cannot leave the zone, and they will kill me eventually.

We call it there, at round 7 Yoroni were ahead by a handful of points, but they get 3 rounds of free scoring and so the final score was much more lopsided.

Final Thoughts

Ty is a fantastic player, and Yoroni are a strong army. I think I really, really needed to trust my gut and hunt Birbs with Cavalry. The Birbs were able to shoot with Brittle SO often. And it’s just so much damage over the course of the game. Also they are fast, and they score. It’s a wild regiment.

What I did Well – I used my Varangians REALLY well. Great heals, tons of kills, and crucially I screened really well for them. I was able to put Ty in a situation where he had to come forward, and had to just eat the Alpha Strike from the Varangians

What I did Poorly – I never spread out well enough on this scenario. I have 4! Cavalry regiments. They’re fast. I need to spread the field so to speak. Cage the Birbs, Get into flanks, get into soft underbellies and get value.

What Ty Did Well – Man, he played the Birbs so well. Lots of key retreats of all things this game, not something really seen often. All in all a fantastic game. Can’t wait for the rematch!

What’s Next?

Next up a buncha games with the Xhiliarch Warlord and Walking Strategos! I really want to dive into the Non-Tier 4 warlords, but I just don’t think they are as good and they don’t inspire me like the Legions Warlords do. After that…I am going to let my kids choose my next army 😀 I will show them basically what armies I have and they will choose a character they think is cool and a few key units and I’ll build from there. I really, really involving my kids in all aspects of my life and this seems like a good time. They will love to see the models they chose on the table that’s for sure (My kids are at the FLGS game nights with me about 80% of the time).

As always thank you so much for reading and improving with me! I hope it helps some of you as much as it helps me! Subscribe to stay up to date with all the great things we will be doing here on Line of Sight. We’ve got plans for Conquest, Warhammer 40k, Dropfleet, Dropzone (With the new edition), Age of Sigmar, Warmachine, Trench Crusade, Infinity, and Star Craft!