In this series, I’m sharing battle reports from my games with Team England Paddington at the Warmachine WTC 2025. If you missed the first game, you can check that report out here. If you missed the second game, you can check that report out here.
| Team | USA Jackrabbits | England Paddington |
| Player | Erica Bev | Jamie Perkins |
| Army | Dusk House Kallyss | Khymaera Shadowflame Shard |
| Player Order | First | Second |
Scenario: TWO FRONTS
The good news, it’s not a team with double Umbrey. The bad news, no USA team is a pushover.
While arguably not the strongest of the US teams, the Jackrabbits would be another stern test for us. They’d taken out England Excalibears in the first round and won all five matches against France Assurancetourix in the second.
List selection
This is the one and only round all tournament where we win the starting roll to determine the matchup process. We choose to determine more match ups. I have one of the stronger match up grids for this round so I’m held until near the end which results in a face off with Erica Bev.
Even though we’d previously met Erica and her husband Andy at gaming conventions in the USA, this would be the first time we’d been able to play a game.
There’s a brief delay while Andy and Erica debate the merits of his Brineblood Marauders needing to play on the beach table. Pained as it clearly makes them both, they agree on the tactical decision of Erica playing against me on the beach table instead.
Erica brought her House Kallyss to the WTC. Normally I’d look to dodge House Kallyss because a lot of the players using them were packing Hellyth with a Phantasm which is very effective into current Shadowflame Shard list builds, including mine. However Erica had brought Tyrus and Scyrafael which I felt much more comfortable facing. I elected to drop Shyryss.
Erica’s list: Tyrus, Nis-Arsyr of Spiders
8 Ghast
2 HEAD – Arc Node
3 RIGHT ARM – Heavy Blade Fist
3 LEFT ARM – Battle Shield10 Specter
4 Dreadguard Scyir
20 Exulon Nostilla
Aberration
7 Krueger, Wrath of Blighterghast
4 Mage Hunter Commander 1
4 Mage Hunter Commander 2
11 Dreadguard Cavalry
6 Mage Hunter Assassins 1
6 Mage Hunter Assassins 2
4 Seeker Adepts
6 Soulless Blademasters 1
2 Seeker Warden 1
6 Soulless Blademasters 2
2 Seeker Warden 2COMMAND CARDS
Blessing of the Gods
Careful Reconnaissance
Duck and Cover!
Hit & Run
Put the Fires Out
TOTAL POINTS 100/100
Deployment
There’s some nasty hitting power in this army list. Particularly knowing Erica is likely to rack Battle Lust which just cranks the damage from those Dreadguard Cavalry, Mage Hunter Assassins, and even the Soulless Blademasters up to 11. Tyrus also brings hyper long threat ranges thanks to his feat. I can somewhat mitigate that with my own feat but it’ll become a matter of timing to make the most of the situation.
The main tool I’ve got up my sleeve for this round is the supreme amount of spells defence I have available between Arcane Negation and Banishing Ward. Stranglehold is one of Tyrus’ strongest control tools and I can largely take that off the table with the spellcasting defences I have.
Erica wins the starting roll and elects to go first. This feels like it works in my favour since the flag in Two Fronts can allow that extra bit of pressure when playing a standoffish match up. I choose the side that lets me maximise that advantage with a large piece of rubble in the centre of my half of the table becoming objective terrain.
Erica sets up Nostilla and Aberration, along with the Dreadguard Cavalry and Tyrus himself slightly to my left, opposite the 50mm objectives. She sets up Krueger, the Specter, and when it comes to advanced deployment she adds a Blademaster unit and a set of Mage Hunter Assassins to the right flank too. The second unit of Blademasters is off to the left and the second unit of Assassins remains off the table to Ambush later on. The Dreadguard select my Trikhymaerax as their prey target once we’re all deployed.
I position my Trike and Shyryss to the left, Vypex and Shades in the middle, Wyvern slightly to the right. There’s a unit of Lashers on each flank. I compress slightly more towards the middle to remain flexible with my positioning and as a reminder to myself of the Assassins waiting in Ambush.
Turn one
Current Score E0 – J0
Tyrus casts Mirage onto the left hand unit of Soulless Blademasters, Inviolable Resolve onto the Specter, and the army runs forward. Nostilla also casts Vision onto Krueger.
The Mage Hunter Commander puts Reposition 3” on the Mirage Blademasters, and the Scyir puts Desperate Pace on the same unit. The Blademasters then advance, the Seeker Warden gives the unit Stealth, and they spread out and forward with the reposition movement. Erica also uses Duck & Cover on them.
I ponder this while Erica finishes out the rest of her unit placements. With Desperate Pace, Mirage, and Tyrus’ feat they effectively have a 17” threat range, after which Tyrus can deliver them with Battle Lust.
They’re opposite my Trikhymaerax and the left hand unit of Talon Lashers. If I respect the Blademaster’s threat range I can move about… 2” out of my deployment zone. I can’t allow them to box me in like that.
I reason two things. Firstly, with Guidance, my Trike can hit the dug in Blademasters on 10s and I’ll have three chances at it. Secondly, if I hit at least one of the shots, Erica will need to burn Tyrus’ feat to let them reach me. Considering the Blademasters are highly unlikely to kill my Trike on their own, that doesn’t feel like a good trade for her.
Fortunately, when I enact this plan the Trike hits the first boosted shot, the AOE flame burst. The AOE clips two more Blademasters with blast damage, which I boost, lifting all three as a result.
I expect my Wyvern is going to need to spend a lot of the game away from the Trike, so it gets Banishing Ward rather than Silence of Death to protect it from Tyrus casting Stranglehold. Dragon’s Blood goes up on the Wyvern, and everything else moves up being respectful of Eric’s other threat ranges.
Turn two
Erica
Current Score E0 – J0
Erica takes a few measurements and states that everything is out of threat range. Mirage is dropped but Vision and Inviolable Resolve are upkept.
The Specter moves up to stand between the two 40mm objectives, contesting both. The nearby Assassins spread out at the back of the closest 40mm objective in a scoring position. Krueger remains out of range of reprisal but close enough to threaten both objectives, supported by the second unit of Blademasters.
Aberration moves up to contest the nearest 50mm objective while remaining more than 14” from my Trike. The Dreadguard hug a nearby obstruction to remain safe from my shooting while still supporting the Aberration. Nostilla returns two of the dead Blademasters to play. The Mage Hunter Commander then makes them into Shield Guards and two of them stand within range of the Aberration.
Jamie
Current Score E0 – J0
I upkeep my spells and take a few measurements. I ponder the Specter. For a moment I forget about the Inviolable Resolve and think about having my Lashers drag it to its death, abandoning that plan when I spot the spell token.
My easy points are on the left. I can score my 50mm objective without moving within 10” of the Aberration. I move the Trike up and confirm that on the direct angle, if Aberration advances through Hyper Aggressive it’ll have to stop when it contacts the nearby building. Erica agrees.
I shoot it with the fire blasts gun. Because the AOE would kill most of the Blademasters she opts not to Shield Guard it. I deal some damage to Aberration and kill both of the Blademasters within range. I deal a little more damage to it with the Frost Tail shots. I try to cheekily push the Aberration off the back of the 50mm objective but the damage I deal allows Erica to Hyper Aggressive it back into scoring range.
The left hand Talon Lashers advance and reposition to contest the same 50mm objective the Trike is scoring, while remaining safely behind a forest and far enough away from the board edge to not be caught by the ambushing Mage Hunter Assassins.
My right hand-Talon Lashers charge the Specter. They would manage to push some damage through with a spiked damage roll but Erica cancels it with a focus point. The other two position to attack the assassins and all three go down. They reposition to ensure they contest both 40mm objectives.
I shift my Wyvern more over to the right to support the units there. My Shades also shift right and spread out, threatening Krueger if he chooses to get involved.
Shyryss, the Vypex, and the Shadowmancers position themselves in the objective terrain.
Turn three
Erica
Current Score E1 – J3
In my turn I’d double checked the distance between the Dreadguard Cavalry and the Trike to remain just out of range. Erica checks this again to be sure. Inviolable Resolve and Vision are upkept.
The ambushing Assassins enter play. They advance to engage the left hand Lashers and contest my 50mm objective.
The right-hand Blademasters and the Specter clear my right hand side Talon Lashers. The Blademasters reposition to score both objectives courtesy of the Mage Hunter Commander..
Krueger continues to lurk in the backfield.
Aberration adjusts its position to more easily Hyper Aggressive around the building this time and takes a potshot at the Trike. Nostilla revives two more Blademasters and they once again position near to Aberration as Shield Guards. This time the Dreadguard Cavalry are also in the mix to absorb blast damage.
The Dreadguard shuffle a bit closer to the Trike.
Jamie
Current Score E6 – J4
With the Wyvern now close enough to take out the Specter, and the Dreadguard threatening my Trike, it feels like time to take a bigger bite of table space.
I drop Banishing Ward but retain Dragon’s Blood. Belighul enrages the Wyvern. The Wyvern charges at and destroys the Specter before taking out some Blademasters. I dropped Banishing Ward to avoid losing it to Death Void when the Blademasters died.
The Shades charge and take out the remaining Blademasters before repositioning to score the 40mm objectives. The Vypex moves over to the right hand front side of the objective terrain. Shyryss feats and recasts Banishing Ward onto the Wyvern through the Vypex.
I advance the Trikhymaerax a little further to ensure the Aberration must be within charge range next turn if it wants to score the 50mm objectives again. I shoot some Blademasters dead again with the fire blast gun. I try to take some cheeky potshots at the Aberration with the Frost Tail without boosting the damage rolls in an attempt to avoid damaging it. The first succeeds and I push it back a little. The second damages it and Aberration walks to within 10” of the Trike… damn. I didn’t need to do that.
The left hand Lashers kill the Ambushing Assassins and reposition to continue contesting the nearby 50mm.
Turn four
Erica
Current Score E7 – J10
No upkeeps are retained this time. Erica takes some measurements, moves Tyrus, and feats. Everything moves up. Battle Lust gets cast onto the Dreadguard Cavalry.
They advance toward the Trike, only two of them are able to engage but they deal considerable damage. Enough that it’s possible for Aberration to finish it off with high damage rolls. Fortunately for me, my poor mistake in shooting it is saved by the quicksand between it and the Trike, which it can’t avoid crossing to reach me. Phew!
Instead, Aberration backs up a bit and takes a shot. Then the Blademasters run around it and spread out between it and the Trike. Nostilla casts Vision onto the Aberration.
Kruger enters the game and kills the Shades. The Seeker Adepts run to score the back 40mm objective. The Mage Hunter Commander runs to contest too.
Jamie
Current Score E10 – J11
I upkeep both spells. Now that most of the Dusk force has entered the fray, I need to wipe out as many as possible.
The Wyvern clears the right hand 40mm objectives.
Shyryss, the Vypex, and the left hand Talon Lashers combine to kill the Dreadguard and the Blademasters. The Vypex casts Hunters Mark on the Aberration.
The Trikhymaerax charges and kills the Aberration.
Turn five
Erica
Current Score E10 – J16
With few models left, Erica spends this turn scoring as many army points and contesting as many objectives as possible. Erica finishes the game by having Tyrus himself charge the Trike and killing it under Battle Lust. I win via scenario as the turn ends.
Conclusions
On discussion after the game, Erica realised a few turns in that she should’ve opted for going second in this match up. The additional flag objective just allowed me to sit back and build slow pressure over the turns to force her on the offensive in a game where neither of us wanted to be the aggressor. I agreed.
Even so, an excellently played game and a great opponent. Erica scored more army points against me of all my opponents at the WTC and was the only one to kill my Trikhymaerax. I also scored my lowest amount of army points against Erica.
On the table next door I saw glimpses of Chris slowly taking Andy Bev’s army off the table. As I understand it, this was aided by Andy’s poor dice at important moments during the game.
Jacob is assassinated by Akers who, we knew going into the round, is a very experienced Skorne player fielding an army fewer players are familiar with.
Golly defeats Nate via scenario. I didn’t get Matt’s review of this game but Nate later told me he missed a critical boosted 8 on a Tempest spell that would’ve knocked down key members of the Black 13th and other nearby enemies to collapse a flank.
Zilva is, as is becoming routine, the last to finish. I feel like this table had judges over for rules questions every 30 seconds and it became something of a running joke during the round. This is where Zilva proved his point about “Cryx can’t crack armour” by slowly grinding down Khythos with his Omodamos brick.
We take the round 4:1 finishing the day with 3 victories from 3 rounds and feeling great about it! As the round comes to a conclusion we learn the other undefeated teams are USA Condor, Germany Wolpertinger, and Poland Aard. We’re as prepared as we can be so we head off to get dinner.
Later that evening, the pairings are announced for the following morning. We’re matched up against USA Condor who’ve individually won 13 of their 15 games so far including a 4:1 win against England Kings Cross in round 3. Well, here goes nothing…
Battle report 4 will be up this week!
Warmanchester 
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