My good mate Nick Ng (Master Enginner Extraordinaire) was busy not working on completing a Skaven army for the last army book and with the newest iteration of Those Dirty Rats has continued to present totally bizarre and highly experimental list for our fairly regular games. Skaven can present something of a problem for Vampires - they are now an awesome leadership army, they have stacks of magical attacks, their focused shooting combined with magic and dodgy template rules (I hear this will be the norm for 8th edition Warhammer) can vapourise a unit in the space of one turn.
Nick's latest list - seemingly vomited forth from a random list generator:
Seer - 2 Scrolls, Skalm (restore all lost wounds once per game)
Cheiftain with Battle Standard and reflecting saved wounds armour
Plague Priest - level 2 on Furnace with various kit including Pipes of Piebald (leadership test for enemy wishing to charge his unit)
39 Feckin Plaguemonks who, when joined by the Priest (or rather, his Furnace) become Unbreakable. The newly dubbed "Plaguetrain from Hell" as it were
11 Censer Bearers (an unusual number)
2 units of 3 Jezzails (again HIGHLY unusual)
Doomwheel
Plague Claw Catapult
3 units of Slaves
1 unit of Clanrats (Mortar)
1 unit of Stormvermin (Mortar)
A really tiny Skaven list. I waved the frenzied Plaguetrain through with some Wolves and set to against the rest of the list. Poor deployment of the Wraiths (which is becoming disturbingly habitual) saw them survive the battle but cause practically no discernable damage). I lost 14 Grave Guard in the first turn to a casting of Scorch and 2 Plague Mortars which was pretty frightening from a psychological perspective. Any other army losing their elite tough-guy unit in one turn would have been in a heck of a position but I got an Invocation past Nick's defense and 6 of the previously fried Grave Guard sprang back to unlife.
I took the Varghulf in this game. Yes I know I know - it's mentally hard. To compensate I took out the Lynci Vamp. Putting a lot of thought into this at the moment - is taking the two rares balanced out by taking 2 characters and having less offensive and defensive magic ability. Potentially for Vampires less magic is a "bad thing" so I'm unsure at this stage.
In this particular game the Varghulf went nuts - blasted through the Censer Bearers in a turn, got stuck into the Clanrats bunkering the Seer forcing him to expend an entire magic phase escaping or risk getting eaten (5 str5 attacks with Hatred from the Varghulf will munch any magic user) - Nick cou't chance losing the PD/DD and scrolls so chucked 5 dice at Skitterleapand bailed. Curses! Old Vargy was joined by my boss 2 turns later and they cleaned up the Clanrats before turning their attention to the Stormvermin now hiding not only the Seer but also the Skaven BSB. With Dire Wolves in their flank and Grave Guard in the front (along with the VC general and Varghulf in the back) the Stormvermin auto-broke and were run down.
The Plaguetrain managed to trample a unit of Skellies, claiming their banner and holding a quarter and this was the only Skaven unit to survive the game. There was absolutely no way I could tackle the Plaguemonks so it was always going to be 600pts I couldn't touch and how much of my stuff I could stop them from killing.
A win to the Vampires by maybe 500pts? (sorry Nick I've forgotten the details).
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Just for Mike
Hi Mike :)
This is for you...
DogCon approaches. This will be my first Australian tournament (I hope the first of many) so I am super-excited - not just about the travel and playing new opponents but also hanging out for the weekend with mates and smashing the Aussies.
DogCon has a repuation for being a hard mans event. FluffyCon this is not. Soften up at your peril. To emphasise this point the composition scoring for the event has no bonuses for soft armies. You are either (in the judges opinion) on-target or hard. This has led to a "-1" kind of thinking; go hard enough to get a -1, make sure taking the negative comp score is worth it in terms of your choices, and be prepared to face opponents who have taken a similar attitude.
DogCon is big. More than 120 players? That's an enormous event by anyone's standards (and can only add to my childish excitement). This opens up the interesting and unusual possibility of getting a run of opponents where you might play well, win all your games, and still not see the best players because of the large numbers. Quite a few people could in fact win all their games at this event! I'm not under any illusions - barring sheer dumb luck of the draw I don't expect (or hope) to face any "named" players. I'm just keen to face 6 unfamiliar opponents and have us both do our best to beat the stuffing out of each others armies.
So what's the plan? Vampires.
Having done Dwarfs, lingered on Lizards, dabbled with Dark Elves, busted out Brettonians and exasperated myself with Empire I've finally succumbed to the dark (darker than Dark Elves dark!) side and gone undead.
I'm enjoying the army immensely but am still finding my feet and as a result haven't been demolishing my opponents like I've been led to believe VCs do without breaking a sweat, lifting a finger or using any brain power whatsoever.
The list I'm taking (or at least version 5; the current version which I might take) looks hard to me (certainly compared to Empire!) but I'm told by more experienced and well-travelled players is likely to be spot on (in a "-1" kind of way) for DogCon.
Looks like this (at the moment) with notes for Mike to understand what the heck I'm talking about:
Lord - Lord of the Dead (raise Skellies above starting strength and +1 to cast), Sword of Might (for a total of 4 str6 attacks), Infinite Hatred (rerolling misses in every round of combat), Dread Knight (mounted on a barded steed with heavy armour and a shield (for a 2+ save), Cadaverous Cuirass (not affected by Poison attacks or Killing Blow), Dispel Scroll, Book of Arkhan (bound 3 Van Hel's Danse which lets a unit get a free 8" move - gold)
Hero - BSB, Dread Knight, Black Periapt (lets the BSB store his power dice and use it as dispel dice in the enemy magic phase, or store a dispel dice and use it as a power dice - handy), Walking Death (an extra point of combat res), Helm of Commandment (gives his weapon skill to a unit within 12")
Hero - Talisman of the Lynci (9" move), Great Weapon, Hatred, 2+ save
20 Skeletons - full command
20 Skeletons - full command
21 Zombies
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
20 Grave Guard (uber-Skeletons of dooooom!) - Full Command, Warbanner
6 Black Knights with a banner giving them Hatred
5 Black Knights with nothing
4 Wraiths and a Banshee (an awful unit really... very nasty)
So the army/list is FAR from soft and should go 6 rounds and give me a good result and some enjoyable games. I'm under no illusions at all for this event - I haven't a hope in placing or even making the top 10. I just want a really good time and 6 opponents who give me a challenging game.
I've had a fair bit of playtesting so far and now that I'm on holiday hope to do a lot more. The games have all been fun (had a cracker of a game against Orcs and Goblins recently - a real blast) and I've learnt more about the army and what it can do (and what I shouldn't do!) in every game so no complaints there.
Still thinking about making changes. Had a moral dilemma and moment of weakness where I put a Varghulf in there too (sort of a monster Vampire thing - can go a bit nuts and combined with the Wraiths is a bit silly) but was talked out of it thank goodness. Have some other options including some Spirit Hosts (ethereal ghosties - not as deadly as the Wraiths but can be a good matchup against some armies).
Hopefully now that I'm under some pressure I'll post up some more detailed reports of the practice games and a solid report on the tournament itself. We're really spoiled for events right now - I get back from Oz, wait three weeks for the next tournament (FluffyCon) then another three weeks before another event here in Auckland (Equinox) which is being run by the City Guard.
Life is good :)
This is for you...
DogCon approaches. This will be my first Australian tournament (I hope the first of many) so I am super-excited - not just about the travel and playing new opponents but also hanging out for the weekend with mates and smashing the Aussies.
DogCon has a repuation for being a hard mans event. FluffyCon this is not. Soften up at your peril. To emphasise this point the composition scoring for the event has no bonuses for soft armies. You are either (in the judges opinion) on-target or hard. This has led to a "-1" kind of thinking; go hard enough to get a -1, make sure taking the negative comp score is worth it in terms of your choices, and be prepared to face opponents who have taken a similar attitude.
DogCon is big. More than 120 players? That's an enormous event by anyone's standards (and can only add to my childish excitement). This opens up the interesting and unusual possibility of getting a run of opponents where you might play well, win all your games, and still not see the best players because of the large numbers. Quite a few people could in fact win all their games at this event! I'm not under any illusions - barring sheer dumb luck of the draw I don't expect (or hope) to face any "named" players. I'm just keen to face 6 unfamiliar opponents and have us both do our best to beat the stuffing out of each others armies.
So what's the plan? Vampires.
Having done Dwarfs, lingered on Lizards, dabbled with Dark Elves, busted out Brettonians and exasperated myself with Empire I've finally succumbed to the dark (darker than Dark Elves dark!) side and gone undead.
I'm enjoying the army immensely but am still finding my feet and as a result haven't been demolishing my opponents like I've been led to believe VCs do without breaking a sweat, lifting a finger or using any brain power whatsoever.
The list I'm taking (or at least version 5; the current version which I might take) looks hard to me (certainly compared to Empire!) but I'm told by more experienced and well-travelled players is likely to be spot on (in a "-1" kind of way) for DogCon.
Looks like this (at the moment) with notes for Mike to understand what the heck I'm talking about:
Lord - Lord of the Dead (raise Skellies above starting strength and +1 to cast), Sword of Might (for a total of 4 str6 attacks), Infinite Hatred (rerolling misses in every round of combat), Dread Knight (mounted on a barded steed with heavy armour and a shield (for a 2+ save), Cadaverous Cuirass (not affected by Poison attacks or Killing Blow), Dispel Scroll, Book of Arkhan (bound 3 Van Hel's Danse which lets a unit get a free 8" move - gold)
Hero - BSB, Dread Knight, Black Periapt (lets the BSB store his power dice and use it as dispel dice in the enemy magic phase, or store a dispel dice and use it as a power dice - handy), Walking Death (an extra point of combat res), Helm of Commandment (gives his weapon skill to a unit within 12")
Hero - Talisman of the Lynci (9" move), Great Weapon, Hatred, 2+ save
20 Skeletons - full command
20 Skeletons - full command
21 Zombies
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
5 Wolves
20 Grave Guard (uber-Skeletons of dooooom!) - Full Command, Warbanner
6 Black Knights with a banner giving them Hatred
5 Black Knights with nothing
4 Wraiths and a Banshee (an awful unit really... very nasty)
So the army/list is FAR from soft and should go 6 rounds and give me a good result and some enjoyable games. I'm under no illusions at all for this event - I haven't a hope in placing or even making the top 10. I just want a really good time and 6 opponents who give me a challenging game.
I've had a fair bit of playtesting so far and now that I'm on holiday hope to do a lot more. The games have all been fun (had a cracker of a game against Orcs and Goblins recently - a real blast) and I've learnt more about the army and what it can do (and what I shouldn't do!) in every game so no complaints there.
Still thinking about making changes. Had a moral dilemma and moment of weakness where I put a Varghulf in there too (sort of a monster Vampire thing - can go a bit nuts and combined with the Wraiths is a bit silly) but was talked out of it thank goodness. Have some other options including some Spirit Hosts (ethereal ghosties - not as deadly as the Wraiths but can be a good matchup against some armies).
Hopefully now that I'm under some pressure I'll post up some more detailed reports of the practice games and a solid report on the tournament itself. We're really spoiled for events right now - I get back from Oz, wait three weeks for the next tournament (FluffyCon) then another three weeks before another event here in Auckland (Equinox) which is being run by the City Guard.
Life is good :)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Fields of Blood - bwahahahahahahaha...
Auckland will be awash with gore and spare body parts come late-September!
I'm running a Fantasy tournament as part of the annual City Guard "GuardCon" gaming convention called Fields of Blood. Looks like it's going to be a real ripper of an event with substantial player attendance forecast - looks to not only be the biggest Fantasy event on the gaming calendar but also potentially the biggest Fantasy tournament that NZ has ever had!
26th and 27th September at Takapuna Grammar School here in Auckland. If you haven't requested a registration and player's pack let me know. Flick an email through to:
fieldsofblood2009@gmail.com
2250pts, 6 rounds, fully painted armies only, tiered 8-judge panel composition system.
Check out http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73641 for updates.
I'm running a Fantasy tournament as part of the annual City Guard "GuardCon" gaming convention called Fields of Blood. Looks like it's going to be a real ripper of an event with substantial player attendance forecast - looks to not only be the biggest Fantasy event on the gaming calendar but also potentially the biggest Fantasy tournament that NZ has ever had!
26th and 27th September at Takapuna Grammar School here in Auckland. If you haven't requested a registration and player's pack let me know. Flick an email through to:
fieldsofblood2009@gmail.com
2250pts, 6 rounds, fully painted armies only, tiered 8-judge panel composition system.
Check out http://www.wargamerau.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=73641 for updates.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Experiences using Daemons and VCs
Continuing with my habit of "borrowing" other people's armies I caught up with NZs own Skeletor - Glen Tibbles - for a couple of games using one of Reid's Daemons lists. Despite losing a big unit of Plaguebearers and Nurgle Herald to an horrific charge by a unit of Blood Knights with Hellfire Banner I came away with a comfortable win with just the VC General surviving the engagement. The night was young so Skellie cranked out more Skellies - this time the accursed Tomb Kings. Was sweating it as usual against TKs, losing a unit of Fiends to a chariot charge before a unit of Flesh Hounds at some Skeleton Archers and the Tomb King himself thank to some impressive ward-saving (and some poor luck on Glen's part). A short while later they were munching through the rest of the army and he had no answer to that or the Plaguebearers regenning the Chariot's attacks, or the Flamers barbecuing whatever they touched. Or the Bloodletters tearing the Bone Giant a new one. Brutal game.
Then I grabbed Ray's Daemons that he's using for Tin Soldiers. Ray and I had a already had a couple of games - one where he'd massacred a Warriors of Chaos list I'd thrown together (now there's an army book you need to practice with!) and one where I'd beaten him down with the dirty Runefang Dark Elf list. Thought I fancied my chances using the Daemons against Pommy Dave's Tin Soldier list (the High Elves masquerading as Wood Elves thing). Boy how wrong was I! Butchered pretty badly, only the Plaguebearers surived that little encounter! What really caught me was the lack of cheap redirectors and chasing units in Ray's list. I'd be a fan of having a couple of solo Fiends for those two jobs.
Next on the list of things to do was play Ray's Tin Soldier 2 Daemons using Reid's TS2 VCs - not a good matchup for the Vampires in this particular instance. Despite the bad matchup the Vampires walked away with a solid victory - the Daemons being left with 1 and 1/2 Flesh Hound (that's models, not units) in the end. What really made the game was a fresh and rather enormous unit of Zombies springing up which not only trapped some Flesh Hounds in combat but got right in the way of the Nurgle block who couldn't get into the action quick enough. By the time they touched something (Grave Guard) they were surrounded and the combat ended with Hellfire Banner Black Knights in the side, Ghouls in the rear and Grave Guard (and VC General in the front). Plaguebearers lost by 9 or so at one point and poof! Gone burger.
Last night it was decided Reid had better get a least one game in with his army before TS2 so he threw down against those damn dirty Dark Elves again. The Darkies put in a sterling effort and considerable overtime and the VCs were left with the Grave Guard and annoyingly unkillable Black Knights (and a BIG unit of raised Zombies). I'd lost the Black Guard and some Crossbowmen but looked on the board like a 15-5 win or thereabouts. This is all excellent stuff as I move closer to building/having/fielding my ownVC army later this year in preparation for DogCon 2010. Beating Reid is always pretty sweet too - once in a blue moon type stuff for me and a victory to savour :) I think he's got me 3-2 at the moment and one of those wins to me was sheer dumb luck (Empire vs Orcs - an unrecorded FluffyCon practice game where he failed a ld9 test in the last turn and a bunch of stuff ran off; basically I was on the ropes big time and the dice turned it around).
Then I grabbed Ray's Daemons that he's using for Tin Soldiers. Ray and I had a already had a couple of games - one where he'd massacred a Warriors of Chaos list I'd thrown together (now there's an army book you need to practice with!) and one where I'd beaten him down with the dirty Runefang Dark Elf list. Thought I fancied my chances using the Daemons against Pommy Dave's Tin Soldier list (the High Elves masquerading as Wood Elves thing). Boy how wrong was I! Butchered pretty badly, only the Plaguebearers surived that little encounter! What really caught me was the lack of cheap redirectors and chasing units in Ray's list. I'd be a fan of having a couple of solo Fiends for those two jobs.
Next on the list of things to do was play Ray's Tin Soldier 2 Daemons using Reid's TS2 VCs - not a good matchup for the Vampires in this particular instance. Despite the bad matchup the Vampires walked away with a solid victory - the Daemons being left with 1 and 1/2 Flesh Hound (that's models, not units) in the end. What really made the game was a fresh and rather enormous unit of Zombies springing up which not only trapped some Flesh Hounds in combat but got right in the way of the Nurgle block who couldn't get into the action quick enough. By the time they touched something (Grave Guard) they were surrounded and the combat ended with Hellfire Banner Black Knights in the side, Ghouls in the rear and Grave Guard (and VC General in the front). Plaguebearers lost by 9 or so at one point and poof! Gone burger.
Last night it was decided Reid had better get a least one game in with his army before TS2 so he threw down against those damn dirty Dark Elves again. The Darkies put in a sterling effort and considerable overtime and the VCs were left with the Grave Guard and annoyingly unkillable Black Knights (and a BIG unit of raised Zombies). I'd lost the Black Guard and some Crossbowmen but looked on the board like a 15-5 win or thereabouts. This is all excellent stuff as I move closer to building/having/fielding my ownVC army later this year in preparation for DogCon 2010. Beating Reid is always pretty sweet too - once in a blue moon type stuff for me and a victory to savour :) I think he's got me 3-2 at the moment and one of those wins to me was sheer dumb luck (Empire vs Orcs - an unrecorded FluffyCon practice game where he failed a ld9 test in the last turn and a bunch of stuff ran off; basically I was on the ropes big time and the dice turned it around).
The Runefang Files - Blogspot ate my Fecking Posts!!!
So I haven't been back for a while but had posted up reports of my games at Runefang 2. Thought I'd see if anyone's been reading the blog and left any comments. Lo and behold my posts for the other 4 games (!) have disappeared! What the hell?!
Had a little cry and decided I couldn't be assed rewriting the uber-essays that were the round 2-5 reports so here are the summaries (which hopefully stick to the site and don't randomly wander off into internetial oblivion).
Round 2 - Vampire Counts
Tough list with 2 Skellies block, big Grave Guard unit, 2 units of Zombies, 2 Corpse Carts, Wraiths with Banshee, big unit of Wolves. Drakenhof on BSB meant Grave Guard weren't going anywhere, Forbidden Lore on Vamp General meant magical fun times and an ethereal Vamp in the Wraith unit meant they had the potential to be quite a handful.
Cleaned up the Wolves first. Shot down one Zombie unit before charging it with Dark Riders and finishing it off easily (they had a banner so it was quite the bargain). Shot a Skellie unit to pieces and managed to shoot down a Corpse Cart. Manticore spent the game chasing around the Wraiths who feared the 5 str7 attacks I'd be inflicting in a challenge with either the Vamp or the Banshee. Black Guard discovered how hard the glass ceiling is - taking on the regenning Grave Guard was only going to end one way. Was a bit hacked off at my stupidity in this regard - should have bailed the BSB from the unit and hidden in a nearby forest or just led the Grave Guard around by the nose. Hydra and Spear block did for the other Zombie unit (and another banner). Last turn lost the Hydra to a barrage of fire magic from the VC General which was highly annoying (he just managed to kill it) but not before it had eaten the other Corpse Cart. Vampires were left with the unkillable Grave Guard bunkering the Lord and BSB and a unit of Skeletons. 12-8 win to me.
Round 3 - Anvil Dwarfs
2 units of Quarellers, Organ Gun, Rune of Forging Cannon, big Hammerers, little Hammerers, big Longbeards and a couple of small Warrior units and of course the fecking Anvil or Stupid Doom. Blew through some Warriors and the little Hammerer unit and the Back Guard buried themselves in the big Hammerer unit for most of the game, eventually killing them all off and chasing down the Dwarf BSB. Hyrda Terrored off the Longbeards and ended up eating them in a later combat. Useless DE General got stuck into the Runelord and after 4 rounds of combat managed not only to NOT kill him but also lose the Manticore and break. My last turn he fails to rally. Dwarf's last turn the powered up Anvil kills the remaining Black Guard (BSB left alive on one wound!), the Hydra (gah!) and a unit of Dark Riders. Ass. 12-8 win which could (should) have been a sweet sweet victory (had the Runelord died when he was supposed to it would have been in the bag I reckon... probably looking at an 18-2 win).
Round 4 - Lizards
Very nice and well-balanced Lizardmen list from Greg Rae who is just getting into Fantasy - good player and a very enjoyable game. Engine, Slann, 2 units of Terradons, lots of skirmishing Skinks, two one-Salamander units, 2 Krox units, 2 Saurus Spear units, Jag Charm Scar-Vet. Nice list but didn't help convince me Lizards should be in tier 4 :) Close game with some cagey play from Greg, lots of fleeing from charges. Good ol' three-dice leadership tests were awesome - reminded me why I enjoyed playing with Lizards so much. Made a big mistake with the Cow, charging the Engine (trying to kill the Priest). Fluffed big time and was fortunate to hold for ages after Saurus charged me in the flank but eventually broke and run down. Game kinda petered out a little in the end but otherwise very very good fun and probably the most enjoyable game of the weekend. 11-9 loss.
Round 5 - Dwarfs
Fast becoming NOT a fan of playing Dwarfs. This one had a Flame Cannon and Organ Gun, 2 units of Quarrellers, big blocks of Slayers, Hammerers and Ironbreakers, Shieldbearer Lord, BSB, Runesmith in a block of Warriors, Miners. Felt a bit sorry for my opponent as a dismembered a unit in each turn. Highlight was a combo charge against the Ironbreakers - Spearmen in the front, Black Guard in the flank, Cow in the rear. Won by 11 and ran them down with Black Guard hitting 5 surviving Slayers (after shooting casualties), Cow flew off the table, and Spears pursued ready to come around and hit Quarrellers later in the flank. Only thing left in the end was the Hammerers and Lord (was never going to try that one on) and 2 Miners. If the Miners had broken to the last charge it would have been 20-0. As it was happy to finish with a 19-1 win.
30% + tier 2 + hardass army meant I got absolutely comp-hammered out of any kind of contention. Maths was right though - a 15-5 win average would have seen me just about podium. As it was placed 24th out of 32 (?) players.
Was VERY flattered to receive Best Sportsmanship with 4 of my 5 opponents voting me their favourite player. This is an amazing award to get in a tournament as it is essentially the only element of the event judged by the participants themselves. Very very cool and very pleased to receive it. Nice to see an example of a bastard army not spoiling sports scores which is a theory put out by some people after recent events.
Overall had a helluva good time. Met some wonderful people down in Wellington and even the skin-heads (Hagen et al) managed to impress. HUGE thanks to Pete Dunn who put myself, Nick Irvine and Neil Williamson up in the palatial mansion that is Che Pete - very cool place. Kudos to the winners of the event - a great bunch of guys and I'd very much like to get down that way again in the future.
Had a little cry and decided I couldn't be assed rewriting the uber-essays that were the round 2-5 reports so here are the summaries (which hopefully stick to the site and don't randomly wander off into internetial oblivion).
Round 2 - Vampire Counts
Tough list with 2 Skellies block, big Grave Guard unit, 2 units of Zombies, 2 Corpse Carts, Wraiths with Banshee, big unit of Wolves. Drakenhof on BSB meant Grave Guard weren't going anywhere, Forbidden Lore on Vamp General meant magical fun times and an ethereal Vamp in the Wraith unit meant they had the potential to be quite a handful.
Cleaned up the Wolves first. Shot down one Zombie unit before charging it with Dark Riders and finishing it off easily (they had a banner so it was quite the bargain). Shot a Skellie unit to pieces and managed to shoot down a Corpse Cart. Manticore spent the game chasing around the Wraiths who feared the 5 str7 attacks I'd be inflicting in a challenge with either the Vamp or the Banshee. Black Guard discovered how hard the glass ceiling is - taking on the regenning Grave Guard was only going to end one way. Was a bit hacked off at my stupidity in this regard - should have bailed the BSB from the unit and hidden in a nearby forest or just led the Grave Guard around by the nose. Hydra and Spear block did for the other Zombie unit (and another banner). Last turn lost the Hydra to a barrage of fire magic from the VC General which was highly annoying (he just managed to kill it) but not before it had eaten the other Corpse Cart. Vampires were left with the unkillable Grave Guard bunkering the Lord and BSB and a unit of Skeletons. 12-8 win to me.
Round 3 - Anvil Dwarfs
2 units of Quarellers, Organ Gun, Rune of Forging Cannon, big Hammerers, little Hammerers, big Longbeards and a couple of small Warrior units and of course the fecking Anvil or Stupid Doom. Blew through some Warriors and the little Hammerer unit and the Back Guard buried themselves in the big Hammerer unit for most of the game, eventually killing them all off and chasing down the Dwarf BSB. Hyrda Terrored off the Longbeards and ended up eating them in a later combat. Useless DE General got stuck into the Runelord and after 4 rounds of combat managed not only to NOT kill him but also lose the Manticore and break. My last turn he fails to rally. Dwarf's last turn the powered up Anvil kills the remaining Black Guard (BSB left alive on one wound!), the Hydra (gah!) and a unit of Dark Riders. Ass. 12-8 win which could (should) have been a sweet sweet victory (had the Runelord died when he was supposed to it would have been in the bag I reckon... probably looking at an 18-2 win).
Round 4 - Lizards
Very nice and well-balanced Lizardmen list from Greg Rae who is just getting into Fantasy - good player and a very enjoyable game. Engine, Slann, 2 units of Terradons, lots of skirmishing Skinks, two one-Salamander units, 2 Krox units, 2 Saurus Spear units, Jag Charm Scar-Vet. Nice list but didn't help convince me Lizards should be in tier 4 :) Close game with some cagey play from Greg, lots of fleeing from charges. Good ol' three-dice leadership tests were awesome - reminded me why I enjoyed playing with Lizards so much. Made a big mistake with the Cow, charging the Engine (trying to kill the Priest). Fluffed big time and was fortunate to hold for ages after Saurus charged me in the flank but eventually broke and run down. Game kinda petered out a little in the end but otherwise very very good fun and probably the most enjoyable game of the weekend. 11-9 loss.
Round 5 - Dwarfs
Fast becoming NOT a fan of playing Dwarfs. This one had a Flame Cannon and Organ Gun, 2 units of Quarrellers, big blocks of Slayers, Hammerers and Ironbreakers, Shieldbearer Lord, BSB, Runesmith in a block of Warriors, Miners. Felt a bit sorry for my opponent as a dismembered a unit in each turn. Highlight was a combo charge against the Ironbreakers - Spearmen in the front, Black Guard in the flank, Cow in the rear. Won by 11 and ran them down with Black Guard hitting 5 surviving Slayers (after shooting casualties), Cow flew off the table, and Spears pursued ready to come around and hit Quarrellers later in the flank. Only thing left in the end was the Hammerers and Lord (was never going to try that one on) and 2 Miners. If the Miners had broken to the last charge it would have been 20-0. As it was happy to finish with a 19-1 win.
30% + tier 2 + hardass army meant I got absolutely comp-hammered out of any kind of contention. Maths was right though - a 15-5 win average would have seen me just about podium. As it was placed 24th out of 32 (?) players.
Was VERY flattered to receive Best Sportsmanship with 4 of my 5 opponents voting me their favourite player. This is an amazing award to get in a tournament as it is essentially the only element of the event judged by the participants themselves. Very very cool and very pleased to receive it. Nice to see an example of a bastard army not spoiling sports scores which is a theory put out by some people after recent events.
Overall had a helluva good time. Met some wonderful people down in Wellington and even the skin-heads (Hagen et al) managed to impress. HUGE thanks to Pete Dunn who put myself, Nick Irvine and Neil Williamson up in the palatial mansion that is Che Pete - very cool place. Kudos to the winners of the event - a great bunch of guys and I'd very much like to get down that way again in the future.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Runefang Files – Round One GRUDGE vs Skaven (Pete Dunn)
Well I was most surprised and a little flattered to find that Pete Dunn was keen to grudge me, ensuring that we finally met on the battlefield and wouldn't be dodging each other thanks to ill-luck with the draw in this tournament. Some serious research (reading his blog) and asking around (Reid) led me to predict what he was taking (for all the good it did me) with a high degree of accuracy. Outside of the absence of the ubiquitous Ratling Guns it was a fairly standard go at the Skaven horde concept replete with acres of crap to wade through (Slaves), ridiculous throwaway deployments (2 units of 2 Globadiers), the twins (2 Warlocks with kit including Storm Daemon and Dispel Scroll), and the Skaven Deathstar (term used lightly) – fully ranked Stormvermin with Warbanner and BSB with banner of +2 for outnumber (total of static 8). With a cowering Warlord reluctantly radiating ld7 (boosted via ranks to ld10) I wasn’t expecting much from Terror and Fear checks in this game and I think all up Pete failed just one Panic check in the whole game! Psychology schmychology!
Realising I would be finished deploying long before Pete had put anything worthwhile down I went for a central deployment, placing the blocks behind a hill and some light stuff and hitty monsters more towards the right. Pete practically castled his entire army in his left hand corner (barring a unit of Clanrats on the other flank who spent the game sneaking forward through a forest to contest a quarter), behind and around a couple of hills, one of which rather handily included a patch of forest for his Warp Lightning Cannon to hide in. I wasn’t exactly within striking distance of anything but was reasonably happy with how things looked. Tunneller markers went in front of the Reapers and to the right of a forest in my zone next to some Harpies and Dark Riders. On reflection I should have put the Hydra on the left flank and wandered through the forest but at least where it was he had to make a choice about what to shoot - the Hydra or the Cow.
I came forward like a bat (Harpy?) out of hell and motored straight up the guts with practically everything. Harpies flew to get in the way of Jezzail fire to save some Dark Riders while everything else pushed up the middle towards a hill behind which was lurking the aforementioned Jezzails, a BIG block of Plaguemonks and accompanying Censer Bearers, and of course some chaff (Slaves). A pittance of shooting culled a few Clanrats from the abundantly fleshed out hill-fortress on Pete’s left which he happily removed, safe in the knowledge there was plenty more where they came from. My Crossbow shooting was neutralized by several small hills on the left and a massive forest on the far left. In fact my shooting had (unsurprisingly) very little effect on the game but the Reapers and Crossbowmen did all survive so at least I wasn’t bleeding points (in that area at least!).
Pete hung back behind the hill and started to position Slave units for maximum annoyance value. Warp Lightning magic drew dice and probably a scroll while the Warp Lightning Cannon did what it said on the box – a tremendous str10 blast carving 4 wounds off the Hydra (feck! Ouch!).
Suddenly not rating my chances of the Hydra surviving beyond a few more seconds I chucked it forward and crossed my fingers. The Cow maneuvered to get a sneaky charge angle on some Clanrats and everything else hoofed it forward fast. A unit of Harpies and some Dark Riders whacked into the front of some Slaves who held and to my great dismay actually saw the Dark Elf forces off in the following turn ☹ I made quite an error at this point with the facing of a unit of Crossbowmen who were charged by some Slaves. With the Elf General and BSB nearby I had no problem at all holding and was able to counter-charge the Slaves with the other Crossbow unit and get rid of them but this cost the Black Guard a vital turn of movement.
In Pete’s turn the Slaves hit the Crossbows, stalling my advance which would cost me later. A mighty str2 shot from the Warp Lightning Cannon was enough to take down the Hydra (groan) leaving one Handler alive to play the diverting game. A unit of Tunnelling Gutter Runners came up and decided to play with the Shades, killing two before being butchered in return, the surviving rat forcing the Shades to pursue back towards my deployment zone. The other unit decided discretion was the better part of valour (or cowardice) and widely kept their heads below ground (Pete rolled a misfire – the rats didn’t come on and I didn’t get any VPs for them either. Kind of win-win). I managed to contain the Warp Lightning one last time at the cost of my second scroll.
Having suffered the attentions of the Reaper Bolt Throwers a reduced strength Clanrat unit took a giant Cow in the front. The Elf General laid about himself with wanton abandon but with the Skaven General and BSB literally an inch away the Clanrats didn’t budge. Bugger. With a unit of Censer Bearers looking to be in range (nevermind the Jezzails who were all too willing to shoot into the combat!) my General looked to be in a spot of trouble. A unit of Crossbows hit the Slaves that were tying up the other unit in the flank and broke them easily but in a quirk of fate the Slaves, fleeing from the highest unit strength, unit actually ran sideways along the length of the board, escaping the frustrated Dark Elves.
In went the Censer Bearers, only one having the range to actually make contact. The awkward conga line of lunatic flail-wavers hemmed in the Stormvermin who, as a further contingency to Skaven ineptitude, reformed to face the Cow should the Censer Bearers stuff things up. Shooting into combat Pete managed to take a wound from the Cow before the Bearer in combat whiffed. Both units took a beating from the Cow and Elf General but while the Bearers broke the accursed Clanrats held again. I had one more turn to make the magic happen and save my boss from a static 9 flank charge.
Sighting Slaves (both fleeing and non-fleeing) all over the place I declared a flurry of charges – Black Guard into one unit feeing from the previous combat who scarpered through their mates and of the board, Spearmen and Harpies into another who also scarpered off the board. By great good fortune this allowed the Harpies to hit the fleeing Censer Bearers who buggered off too before they could rally and cause me more grief. The sorely tested Dark Elf General finally broke the Clanrats (who needed 5s with a reroll – not a sure thing by any means) and pursued them off the board). Yay! This panicked the Warp Lightning Cannon which spent several turns fleeing in different directions before rallying itself in Pete’s last turn. The only serious concern I had now was that when he returned to the board my General had to choose between facing the twins and their warp lightning spells, or the Jezzails and their shooty death. Dang.
With the Harpies bearing down on them the decision of what to shoot was an easy one for the Jezzails and the flying harridans were annihilated in short order. Pete finally began pushing forward on the left with confidence in numbers canceling out his fear of my shooting the left flank. The rats milled around waiting for the Cow to make it’s grand entrance and face shooty/magic death.
I started my turning by sportingly asking Pete if I could just leave the Cow off the table. He declined ☺ and I decided to move it behind a hill so it was “only” facing a couple of Warp Lightning spells. The Black Guard crested the hill in Pete’s deployment zone ready to mess something up good in the next turn (we were at turn 5 by this point). I made my second really big mistake here and again it was to do with the facing of a unit. The Plaguemonks, being Frenzied, would be forced to charge the Black Guard on their hill. Likely to lose they would flee and I would have to pursue but unfortunately, while I was likely chase them off the board the pursuit wasn’t going to take me into the Stormvermin who I DESPERATELY wanted to get my hands on.
Pete’s turn and he was somewhat surprised (and disappointed) to realise the Plaguemonks had to go in. Taking 9 casualties on the charge they lost combat by something hideous (I think 14 - 3 ranks, standard, BSB, hill, outumber, kills vs 3 ranks and a standard or something like that) and broke. The Black Guard pursued and forced the Jezzails to flee the table too but the writing was on the wall at this point. The Stormvermin were not tempted in the slightest to try it on with the Black Guard and they finished the game a few inches away facing each other and hurling childish insults. On the flank my worst fears were realized and the Cow was gunned down by 12 (that’s a double 6 for hits people!) hits from Warp Lightning. The boss held the banner he’d captured and survived the game by skirting around the edges of a Clanrat unit.
In the end the battle kind of petered out and much jeering was made by onlookers of Pete’s decision not to fire the Warp Lightning Cannon in the last turn (sorry, it must have rallied in turn 5 – hazy memory) and by me because he wouldn’t charge the Black Guard with the Stormvermin (Pete’s not an idiot ☺). He’d dealt out a fair bit of damage and when the dust settled and the calculations were complete I’d snatchd up a 12-8 win (Pete's only loss of the weekend). Given the differences in our armies I’d say Pete did bloody well out of that little encounter! I enjoyed the game immensely – the army, the player, the mad dice – great Warhammer and an outstanding first game for the tournament!
I had the funny feeling I might have come off better in this encounter if I'd had my Empire lads with me. Sure did miss that Mortar!
Realising I would be finished deploying long before Pete had put anything worthwhile down I went for a central deployment, placing the blocks behind a hill and some light stuff and hitty monsters more towards the right. Pete practically castled his entire army in his left hand corner (barring a unit of Clanrats on the other flank who spent the game sneaking forward through a forest to contest a quarter), behind and around a couple of hills, one of which rather handily included a patch of forest for his Warp Lightning Cannon to hide in. I wasn’t exactly within striking distance of anything but was reasonably happy with how things looked. Tunneller markers went in front of the Reapers and to the right of a forest in my zone next to some Harpies and Dark Riders. On reflection I should have put the Hydra on the left flank and wandered through the forest but at least where it was he had to make a choice about what to shoot - the Hydra or the Cow.
I came forward like a bat (Harpy?) out of hell and motored straight up the guts with practically everything. Harpies flew to get in the way of Jezzail fire to save some Dark Riders while everything else pushed up the middle towards a hill behind which was lurking the aforementioned Jezzails, a BIG block of Plaguemonks and accompanying Censer Bearers, and of course some chaff (Slaves). A pittance of shooting culled a few Clanrats from the abundantly fleshed out hill-fortress on Pete’s left which he happily removed, safe in the knowledge there was plenty more where they came from. My Crossbow shooting was neutralized by several small hills on the left and a massive forest on the far left. In fact my shooting had (unsurprisingly) very little effect on the game but the Reapers and Crossbowmen did all survive so at least I wasn’t bleeding points (in that area at least!).
Pete hung back behind the hill and started to position Slave units for maximum annoyance value. Warp Lightning magic drew dice and probably a scroll while the Warp Lightning Cannon did what it said on the box – a tremendous str10 blast carving 4 wounds off the Hydra (feck! Ouch!).
Suddenly not rating my chances of the Hydra surviving beyond a few more seconds I chucked it forward and crossed my fingers. The Cow maneuvered to get a sneaky charge angle on some Clanrats and everything else hoofed it forward fast. A unit of Harpies and some Dark Riders whacked into the front of some Slaves who held and to my great dismay actually saw the Dark Elf forces off in the following turn ☹ I made quite an error at this point with the facing of a unit of Crossbowmen who were charged by some Slaves. With the Elf General and BSB nearby I had no problem at all holding and was able to counter-charge the Slaves with the other Crossbow unit and get rid of them but this cost the Black Guard a vital turn of movement.
In Pete’s turn the Slaves hit the Crossbows, stalling my advance which would cost me later. A mighty str2 shot from the Warp Lightning Cannon was enough to take down the Hydra (groan) leaving one Handler alive to play the diverting game. A unit of Tunnelling Gutter Runners came up and decided to play with the Shades, killing two before being butchered in return, the surviving rat forcing the Shades to pursue back towards my deployment zone. The other unit decided discretion was the better part of valour (or cowardice) and widely kept their heads below ground (Pete rolled a misfire – the rats didn’t come on and I didn’t get any VPs for them either. Kind of win-win). I managed to contain the Warp Lightning one last time at the cost of my second scroll.
Having suffered the attentions of the Reaper Bolt Throwers a reduced strength Clanrat unit took a giant Cow in the front. The Elf General laid about himself with wanton abandon but with the Skaven General and BSB literally an inch away the Clanrats didn’t budge. Bugger. With a unit of Censer Bearers looking to be in range (nevermind the Jezzails who were all too willing to shoot into the combat!) my General looked to be in a spot of trouble. A unit of Crossbows hit the Slaves that were tying up the other unit in the flank and broke them easily but in a quirk of fate the Slaves, fleeing from the highest unit strength, unit actually ran sideways along the length of the board, escaping the frustrated Dark Elves.
In went the Censer Bearers, only one having the range to actually make contact. The awkward conga line of lunatic flail-wavers hemmed in the Stormvermin who, as a further contingency to Skaven ineptitude, reformed to face the Cow should the Censer Bearers stuff things up. Shooting into combat Pete managed to take a wound from the Cow before the Bearer in combat whiffed. Both units took a beating from the Cow and Elf General but while the Bearers broke the accursed Clanrats held again. I had one more turn to make the magic happen and save my boss from a static 9 flank charge.
Sighting Slaves (both fleeing and non-fleeing) all over the place I declared a flurry of charges – Black Guard into one unit feeing from the previous combat who scarpered through their mates and of the board, Spearmen and Harpies into another who also scarpered off the board. By great good fortune this allowed the Harpies to hit the fleeing Censer Bearers who buggered off too before they could rally and cause me more grief. The sorely tested Dark Elf General finally broke the Clanrats (who needed 5s with a reroll – not a sure thing by any means) and pursued them off the board). Yay! This panicked the Warp Lightning Cannon which spent several turns fleeing in different directions before rallying itself in Pete’s last turn. The only serious concern I had now was that when he returned to the board my General had to choose between facing the twins and their warp lightning spells, or the Jezzails and their shooty death. Dang.
With the Harpies bearing down on them the decision of what to shoot was an easy one for the Jezzails and the flying harridans were annihilated in short order. Pete finally began pushing forward on the left with confidence in numbers canceling out his fear of my shooting the left flank. The rats milled around waiting for the Cow to make it’s grand entrance and face shooty/magic death.
I started my turning by sportingly asking Pete if I could just leave the Cow off the table. He declined ☺ and I decided to move it behind a hill so it was “only” facing a couple of Warp Lightning spells. The Black Guard crested the hill in Pete’s deployment zone ready to mess something up good in the next turn (we were at turn 5 by this point). I made my second really big mistake here and again it was to do with the facing of a unit. The Plaguemonks, being Frenzied, would be forced to charge the Black Guard on their hill. Likely to lose they would flee and I would have to pursue but unfortunately, while I was likely chase them off the board the pursuit wasn’t going to take me into the Stormvermin who I DESPERATELY wanted to get my hands on.
Pete’s turn and he was somewhat surprised (and disappointed) to realise the Plaguemonks had to go in. Taking 9 casualties on the charge they lost combat by something hideous (I think 14 - 3 ranks, standard, BSB, hill, outumber, kills vs 3 ranks and a standard or something like that) and broke. The Black Guard pursued and forced the Jezzails to flee the table too but the writing was on the wall at this point. The Stormvermin were not tempted in the slightest to try it on with the Black Guard and they finished the game a few inches away facing each other and hurling childish insults. On the flank my worst fears were realized and the Cow was gunned down by 12 (that’s a double 6 for hits people!) hits from Warp Lightning. The boss held the banner he’d captured and survived the game by skirting around the edges of a Clanrat unit.
In the end the battle kind of petered out and much jeering was made by onlookers of Pete’s decision not to fire the Warp Lightning Cannon in the last turn (sorry, it must have rallied in turn 5 – hazy memory) and by me because he wouldn’t charge the Black Guard with the Stormvermin (Pete’s not an idiot ☺). He’d dealt out a fair bit of damage and when the dust settled and the calculations were complete I’d snatchd up a 12-8 win (Pete's only loss of the weekend). Given the differences in our armies I’d say Pete did bloody well out of that little encounter! I enjoyed the game immensely – the army, the player, the mad dice – great Warhammer and an outstanding first game for the tournament!
I had the funny feeling I might have come off better in this encounter if I'd had my Empire lads with me. Sure did miss that Mortar!
The Runefang Files - Introduction
Long-term readers of this less than esteemed and august blog will recall the disastrous non-trip to Wellington last year that “Pommy” Dave Grant and myself unwillingly endured. After we were done with catastrophic mechanical malfunctions (both auto and aero), postponed by inevitably misbooked flights, and I suffered a last minute lost (but not actually lost) wallet that pushed me to the brink of the limits of human endurance and sanity I was left with a credit with my favourite airline (not) for a flight that I had to book within a year of the biggest cockup in recent airline history.
I spent some time casting around for a decent event to attend while simultaneously fending off my wife who was quite keen to get her hands on a plane ticket for whatever heinous shopping exploration she had planned. Fortunately for me the Wellington lads felt it necessary to run a tournament at zero hour and I was able to book in at a reasonable cost a tenuously reliable flight to Wellywood to take part in Runefang II (there’s not a few sequels scheduled to come out this year including Tin Soldier 2, Horned Rat 2 and Skitterleap 2 – lets hope the traditional shoddy byproduct of an excellent original is not a trend set in concrete as established by Hollywood moguls interested only in making a quick buck with a poorly thought-out, ill-conceived epilogue to the real story that is any first movie… sorry… disgressus maximus…). Having also found a willing and gullible travel buddy in one Nick Irvine (aka Always Wood Elves Nick aka Captain Soft Scores) the weekend was shaping up to be quite the adventure.
4:30 bloody AM saw me up and at ‘em, pick up Nick on the way through to the airport. With Welly airport closed the previous day due to typically inviting weather and my previous experiences with Pacific Blue weighing heavily on my mind I was most surprised to actually make it to Wellington not only in one piece but only 15 minutes late. Nice! Half a paycheck worth of taxi ride through the mental rabbit warren that is the Wellington CBD and hill suburb of Khandallah later and we arrived at the obscurely placed Khandallah Scout Hall, filled to overflowing with keen gamers and as diverse a range of armies as you could hope to encounter. Feeling I was obviously at an advantage for already being awake for 4 hours (unlike the luckless locals who probably woke up 15 minutes before they needed to be at the venue – poor bastards) I set about conquering the Wellington upstarts, ready and willing to demolish anything that crossed my path with by far and away the dirtiest list I have ever (maybe will ever) take to a Warhammer Fantasy tournament.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the army:
As mentioned previously (and as evidenced by previous posts - take some time to have a read and wander through the archives if you’re new to all this) I’m quite the army whore. Don’t tell my wife (please PLEASE don’t tell her!) but I’m finding it extraordinarily difficult to stick to using one army (I recently tried a couple of games using Daemons – oh… my…goodness!). The upshot of having great friends who don’t mind (much) that you’re pilfering their prized plastic is that you get to experience the spice of life by playin a range of armies. Pete made the comment that (one) reason he quite liked Fantasy (compared to say… 40k) is that the armies really are VERY diverse and quite unique. It’s not just the fact that you don’t face Space Marines every other round – rather, between (and even within) army books you can encounter and experience startling differences resulting in innumerable subtle strategic and tactical distinctions. For this reason (and because Ray opened a cupboard at exactly the wrong moment, allowing me to see a choppy little chap sitting on a Manticore) I felt obliged to give Dark Elves a shot.
Having used Lizards, Dwarfs, Empire and Brettonians previously in both friendly and competitive games I found myself utterly compelled to have a hit out with something Elven in nature. Dark Elves naturally are one of the more recent flavours of the month and my good mate Ray happened to have a painted army on hand and was generous enough to allow me to use it. Sold.
I spent a week putting some list options together and playing a few games. Whether by universal design or newness to the list I found myself always drawn back to a couple of things:
- Hydras are absolutely f**king brokenly awesome. For 175pts you’re either mad or stubbornly fluff-driven not to take one. They should be coming in at 210pts plus (much better than a Giant in my opinion).
- Reaper Bolt Throwers are stupidly good. 4s to hit at long range? Str4 Armour Piercing? Ho-ly crap.
- Are Black Guard really that good? Yes, I’m afraid so (if they don’t get shot to pieces before they hit in combat). I had to take them. In fact I had to give them the ASF banner too. Oh, and a Crimson Death for the Champion. Oh and better put the BSB in this unit with a Great Weapon. Madness (I’d fallen right off the wagon by this point).
- Harpies are just about the best thing ever. 55pts for 5 flying, baiting and fleeing, two attack, march-blocking pains in the ass? Big yes. Two units please. Chuck in a couple of units of Dark Riders too while you’re at it.
- Failing 3 Stupidity checks in one game gave me reason enough to drop all the Cold One elements from the list.
- I’ve really taken a big flying Terror causer before. Ok yes I mucked around with a Hippogryph for a while when I was using Bretts but Hippos are shite. To be honest the Manticore wasn’t too much better but the Dreadlord on top with Pendant (broken) and Sword of Battle + Potion of Strength (to bust out 5 str attacks with Hatred when I feel the need) was/is the business and kinda sealed the deal. I ALMOST went with a Black Dragon. Almost. Damn but I was close to taking a Dragon. Scary how easy it is to compromise your morals with Dark Elves. Maybe I was just playing in character?
So what did I end up with? An army that pretty much ticked every red light box you possibly can if you’re taking Dark Elves! I felt a bit guilty using such a nasty list but given the 30% comp weighting at Runefang II also felt I’d have my work cut out for me needing to overcome the train wreck that would doubtless be my comp score with smooth moves, mad skills and a consistent performance on the battlefield. I’ve never been put in this position before as my comp score inevitably compensates for my shoddy generalship. Usually.
Here’s what I took:
Dreadlord – Pendant, Sword of Battle, Potion of Strength, Sea Dragon Cloak, mundane armour (enough to get a 2+ save vs shooting), Cow (Manticore)
BSB – 1+ save armour, Ring of Hotek (wait till you read about the game I had vs a Slann and Priest on Engine… at once awesome and hideously disappointing)
Sorceress with 2 Scrolls (caddy. Might have cast one spell over the 5 games)
2 x 5 Dark Riders – Spears, Uzis, Muso
2 x 5 Harpies
20 Spears with full command and Warbanner
2 x 10 Crossbowmen
15 Black Guard – Hag Graef (ASF), Crimson Death on Champion, no musician
6 Shades
2 Reaper Bolt Throwers
Hydra
Geez that was it. Damn it looks small now but there’s a hard core of badness in there ☺
On reflection I would have changed some stuff (I won’t be taking them to a tournament again so this is just wishful thinking and wistful musing):
- drop the Ring and try some more magic; it’s a fun Lore and I didn’t get to flex Power of Darkness at all
- put the boss on a Dark Steed – the Cow was dead weight and though it sounds naff I just found it to be too soft (looks good though!)
- take an Assassin. They look like wicked fun!
Other than that the list was great, I mean come on – I took all the best stuff right?
Next up... Round One GRUDGE vs Pete Dunn!
I spent some time casting around for a decent event to attend while simultaneously fending off my wife who was quite keen to get her hands on a plane ticket for whatever heinous shopping exploration she had planned. Fortunately for me the Wellington lads felt it necessary to run a tournament at zero hour and I was able to book in at a reasonable cost a tenuously reliable flight to Wellywood to take part in Runefang II (there’s not a few sequels scheduled to come out this year including Tin Soldier 2, Horned Rat 2 and Skitterleap 2 – lets hope the traditional shoddy byproduct of an excellent original is not a trend set in concrete as established by Hollywood moguls interested only in making a quick buck with a poorly thought-out, ill-conceived epilogue to the real story that is any first movie… sorry… disgressus maximus…). Having also found a willing and gullible travel buddy in one Nick Irvine (aka Always Wood Elves Nick aka Captain Soft Scores) the weekend was shaping up to be quite the adventure.
4:30 bloody AM saw me up and at ‘em, pick up Nick on the way through to the airport. With Welly airport closed the previous day due to typically inviting weather and my previous experiences with Pacific Blue weighing heavily on my mind I was most surprised to actually make it to Wellington not only in one piece but only 15 minutes late. Nice! Half a paycheck worth of taxi ride through the mental rabbit warren that is the Wellington CBD and hill suburb of Khandallah later and we arrived at the obscurely placed Khandallah Scout Hall, filled to overflowing with keen gamers and as diverse a range of armies as you could hope to encounter. Feeling I was obviously at an advantage for already being awake for 4 hours (unlike the luckless locals who probably woke up 15 minutes before they needed to be at the venue – poor bastards) I set about conquering the Wellington upstarts, ready and willing to demolish anything that crossed my path with by far and away the dirtiest list I have ever (maybe will ever) take to a Warhammer Fantasy tournament.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the army:
As mentioned previously (and as evidenced by previous posts - take some time to have a read and wander through the archives if you’re new to all this) I’m quite the army whore. Don’t tell my wife (please PLEASE don’t tell her!) but I’m finding it extraordinarily difficult to stick to using one army (I recently tried a couple of games using Daemons – oh… my…goodness!). The upshot of having great friends who don’t mind (much) that you’re pilfering their prized plastic is that you get to experience the spice of life by playin a range of armies. Pete made the comment that (one) reason he quite liked Fantasy (compared to say… 40k) is that the armies really are VERY diverse and quite unique. It’s not just the fact that you don’t face Space Marines every other round – rather, between (and even within) army books you can encounter and experience startling differences resulting in innumerable subtle strategic and tactical distinctions. For this reason (and because Ray opened a cupboard at exactly the wrong moment, allowing me to see a choppy little chap sitting on a Manticore) I felt obliged to give Dark Elves a shot.
Having used Lizards, Dwarfs, Empire and Brettonians previously in both friendly and competitive games I found myself utterly compelled to have a hit out with something Elven in nature. Dark Elves naturally are one of the more recent flavours of the month and my good mate Ray happened to have a painted army on hand and was generous enough to allow me to use it. Sold.
I spent a week putting some list options together and playing a few games. Whether by universal design or newness to the list I found myself always drawn back to a couple of things:
- Hydras are absolutely f**king brokenly awesome. For 175pts you’re either mad or stubbornly fluff-driven not to take one. They should be coming in at 210pts plus (much better than a Giant in my opinion).
- Reaper Bolt Throwers are stupidly good. 4s to hit at long range? Str4 Armour Piercing? Ho-ly crap.
- Are Black Guard really that good? Yes, I’m afraid so (if they don’t get shot to pieces before they hit in combat). I had to take them. In fact I had to give them the ASF banner too. Oh, and a Crimson Death for the Champion. Oh and better put the BSB in this unit with a Great Weapon. Madness (I’d fallen right off the wagon by this point).
- Harpies are just about the best thing ever. 55pts for 5 flying, baiting and fleeing, two attack, march-blocking pains in the ass? Big yes. Two units please. Chuck in a couple of units of Dark Riders too while you’re at it.
- Failing 3 Stupidity checks in one game gave me reason enough to drop all the Cold One elements from the list.
- I’ve really taken a big flying Terror causer before. Ok yes I mucked around with a Hippogryph for a while when I was using Bretts but Hippos are shite. To be honest the Manticore wasn’t too much better but the Dreadlord on top with Pendant (broken) and Sword of Battle + Potion of Strength (to bust out 5 str attacks with Hatred when I feel the need) was/is the business and kinda sealed the deal. I ALMOST went with a Black Dragon. Almost. Damn but I was close to taking a Dragon. Scary how easy it is to compromise your morals with Dark Elves. Maybe I was just playing in character?
So what did I end up with? An army that pretty much ticked every red light box you possibly can if you’re taking Dark Elves! I felt a bit guilty using such a nasty list but given the 30% comp weighting at Runefang II also felt I’d have my work cut out for me needing to overcome the train wreck that would doubtless be my comp score with smooth moves, mad skills and a consistent performance on the battlefield. I’ve never been put in this position before as my comp score inevitably compensates for my shoddy generalship. Usually.
Here’s what I took:
Dreadlord – Pendant, Sword of Battle, Potion of Strength, Sea Dragon Cloak, mundane armour (enough to get a 2+ save vs shooting), Cow (Manticore)
BSB – 1+ save armour, Ring of Hotek (wait till you read about the game I had vs a Slann and Priest on Engine… at once awesome and hideously disappointing)
Sorceress with 2 Scrolls (caddy. Might have cast one spell over the 5 games)
2 x 5 Dark Riders – Spears, Uzis, Muso
2 x 5 Harpies
20 Spears with full command and Warbanner
2 x 10 Crossbowmen
15 Black Guard – Hag Graef (ASF), Crimson Death on Champion, no musician
6 Shades
2 Reaper Bolt Throwers
Hydra
Geez that was it. Damn it looks small now but there’s a hard core of badness in there ☺
On reflection I would have changed some stuff (I won’t be taking them to a tournament again so this is just wishful thinking and wistful musing):
- drop the Ring and try some more magic; it’s a fun Lore and I didn’t get to flex Power of Darkness at all
- put the boss on a Dark Steed – the Cow was dead weight and though it sounds naff I just found it to be too soft (looks good though!)
- take an Assassin. They look like wicked fun!
Other than that the list was great, I mean come on – I took all the best stuff right?
Next up... Round One GRUDGE vs Pete Dunn!
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