Hrm.
So that game against Reid was a quick one. Losing first turn gave me ONE shooting phase to make some sort of an impact. I think I managed to kill one Flesh Hound... Then he was all over me like drunk pub-crawling Uni student in a toga at orientation. Only in a much more unsubtly violent and clinically vicious way.
Not much to say about this game. Reid is a GREAT player. Seriously. The Daemons are of course a GREAT army (and his list was perhaps not particularly harsh for Daemons either). Combine those two together and poor old Fujin and his poor old Empire lads were in for an uber-ass-kicking.
Having said all of that, the game was a blessing in terms of learning experience and post-game conversation. Eventually I am likely to face a fast Daemon army and I need a stronger strategic paradigm than just looking sad and taking models off the pitch. Reid gave me heaps of advice afterwords about what I might have done to mitigate the absolute disaster I'd just experienced:
- Don't deploy the shooty stuff on the edge of your depoyment zone.
- Use the detachments better. "Skirmish" lines to disrupt the Daemon advance, force them to spend time getting into early combat, redirect units and/or pull them out of the battle line.
- Focus my shooting better - the Juggers are a lot less scary when they've lost even one model.
- Pick on one block and kick it's ass. Stop the others from getting into combat.
- Deploy better - don't just clump everything together so the Daemon player doesn't have to maneouver at all is able to concentrate his whole army on where ALL the points are on the table.
- Be prepared to lose stuff even if it means losing so that you won't lose as badly! (this is an excellent point that can apply to facing more armies than just Daemons!). Think about how you can turn a 2000pt loss into a 500pt loss by sacrificing units in clever places to survive the game.
Requires a different kind of thinking. I think.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
We're back! And we have the princess!*
* Spaceballs quote, accordingly Facebooked as one of the five movies I grew up with.
Crikey but it's been a while. Taken a bit of stick for my lack of blog activity recently but I have my life back (mostly) after a spate of Shakespeare performances and some temporary insanity (work-related).
Update time!
I was intending last night to make the journey to the AWC (Auckland Wargames Club) for a game or two but traffic conspired mightily against me (accident on the motorway, cars backed up for Africa). Fortunately I was stuck in traffic next to an offramp leading to Ray's place (which isn't too far from home). A quick bit of mobile/cellular action later and I was at Ray's house getting ready for a game. Reid turned up 1/2 an hour later and quite by chance I managed to get two games in against two fantastic opponents.
Ray is a champion bloke - gentlemen Warhammer player who's been pushing the toy soldiers around for years and loves the game. He's currently enjoying the Dark Elf bandwagon but has started shifting his lists around looking for something different from the standard stuff that's out there. I thought this list was great fun to play against:
Boss on Dark Steed with thrice-damned Pendant and probably some other toys (don't know... he only ended up in combat finishing off some Flagellents so it was a moot point) - oh yeah, the little bastard had his own bow too... that was really irritating!
2 Level 2s; one with Tome of Furion (extra spell), one with Darkstar Cloak (extra PD for that chick)
Bloody (literally!) Cauldron
2 x 10 RXBs
5 Dark Riders with Spears and Uzis
12 Black Guard
Biiiig block of Witch Elves
Block of Spears
Block of Executioners (!)
2 x 5 Harpies
Hydra
I had the upper hand (at least I thought I did) for the first couple of turns but throughout the game I had AWFUL luck with my artillery - might have killed a couple of Harpies in total with 2 Cannons and a Mortar. Shocking - we were so used to seeing misfires we were all really surprised when they actually didn't! Shooting went into the Witchies and Executioners to remove rank bonuses mostly. The Reiksguard Knights were fortunate - busting through the Spears and running them down on the right flank with a frontal charge (down by 3 at the start of combat from static res, Hatred made the difference) but then spent a couple of turns enduring 30 RXB shots reforming themselves for another fight (losing only one Knight from something like 70ish shots much to my amusement and Ray's - and Reid's - frustration). They managed to wipe out 10 RXBs and the Cauldron crew (who had earlier fled a quick scuffle) but not before magic (Doombolt) and combat (Hag Champ from Cauldron crew) had wiped out all (including the Priest) but the unit standard bearer. He hid in a forest and survived the game still holding the DE Spear banner.
The detachment chaff rampaged forward to divert the Executioners and bait the Witch Elves. After the fortuitous despatching of some Enemy-in-the-Waying Harpies the Spears hit the front of the Witch Elves and the Swordsmen (and Arch-Lector) hit their flank. Carnage ensued as the Witch Elves were butchered without mercy. Of course it was only as I was completing my charge moves (with the Executioners sitting on the flank of the Swordsmen ready to charge in should the Witch Elves hold) did realise that the Cauldron made the flippin Witch Elves Stubborn! Incredibly they still broke and were caught and chopped up. The Spears hit the Cauldron crew sitting behind, the Swords turned and smashed into the front of the Executioners! Result!
Ironically this is the point where I lost the game.
The Executioner Champion declined the Arch-Lector's challenge. Predictably the Lector could only kill off one Executioner. And of course the only one that could attack (with 2 attacks courtesy of the nearby Cauldron) only hit once. And of course Ray dialled up the necessary '6' on that one dice to killing blow my General.
F***.
The Swords broke in the next turn and were run down. The Spears hit the 3 Cauldron crew and may as well have hit a brick wall. The Empire BSB and the Wizard took a wound for their troubles and the Witch Elf crew passed their Stubborn break check easily. Next turn the Spears broke the crew but failed to catch them - this is around the time the surviving Reiksguard intervened and dealt to them.
An interesting point of discussion that arose during all of this was the removal (or not retrospectively) of the Cauldron model itself. The rules indicate that it is a warmachine with the exception that it cannot ever be hurt. So should we have removed it? DE units within 12" of the Cauldron are Stubborn so it could have stayed and later had an impact on the game.
While all this drama was going on the Black Guard and DE General along with their Hydra mate were taking a leisurely stroll down my left flank. The Hyrda was hit in the flank by the Flagellents after some clever (I thought) baiting and march-blocking (and a lucky passed Terror check) by the GW-Knights and Pistoliers. After their sterling performance against Phil's Hyrda in a previous game I had high hopes but the useless gits fluffed their martyr roll (gaining Hatred when I really needed at least a reroll for wounds too) and only managed a to kill off one of the handlers! In return 8+ Flagellents bit the dust. Next turn they were hit by the Black Guard and DE General = one surviving Flagellent (!). The rallied GW-Knights were all ready to charge the Hydra to remove the last crew member (to at least force a monster reaction test - could have made it wander off or go unbreakable and not move for the rest of the game) but an intervening Crossbow detachment that had failed to rally neatly moved right in the way (argh!). Bugger.
A unit of RXBs claimed a tower in the middle of the field. This little machine-gun nest smashed the Handgunners and a good number of Spearmen (and a Spear detachment) before the 5 Dark Riders (who I just could not kill!) made a daring last turn charge into the front of the depleted Spear block. They fluffed (kind of) but held in return (draw - we both had musicians) and that was the game.
Washup:
I had: 1/2 Crossbow unit, a cannon, 1/2 Reiksguard Knights, Spears block (just above half), and the Free Company detachment.
Ray had: Hydra, 1/2 Black Guard, General, both Sorceresses (one on half wounds), 1/2 Executioners (which if I'd killed 3 with my last turn of shooting would have been below 25% and unable to rally), Dark Riders, an RXB unit.
A clear and deserved win to the big guy and some hard questions being asked of the highly inaccurate artillery crew (awesome range-guessing, CRAP bounces and scatters).
Second game against Reid's Daemons coming shortly. And by shortly I mean the writing was on the wall at the end of turn one...
Crikey but it's been a while. Taken a bit of stick for my lack of blog activity recently but I have my life back (mostly) after a spate of Shakespeare performances and some temporary insanity (work-related).
Update time!
I was intending last night to make the journey to the AWC (Auckland Wargames Club) for a game or two but traffic conspired mightily against me (accident on the motorway, cars backed up for Africa). Fortunately I was stuck in traffic next to an offramp leading to Ray's place (which isn't too far from home). A quick bit of mobile/cellular action later and I was at Ray's house getting ready for a game. Reid turned up 1/2 an hour later and quite by chance I managed to get two games in against two fantastic opponents.
Ray is a champion bloke - gentlemen Warhammer player who's been pushing the toy soldiers around for years and loves the game. He's currently enjoying the Dark Elf bandwagon but has started shifting his lists around looking for something different from the standard stuff that's out there. I thought this list was great fun to play against:
Boss on Dark Steed with thrice-damned Pendant and probably some other toys (don't know... he only ended up in combat finishing off some Flagellents so it was a moot point) - oh yeah, the little bastard had his own bow too... that was really irritating!
2 Level 2s; one with Tome of Furion (extra spell), one with Darkstar Cloak (extra PD for that chick)
Bloody (literally!) Cauldron
2 x 10 RXBs
5 Dark Riders with Spears and Uzis
12 Black Guard
Biiiig block of Witch Elves
Block of Spears
Block of Executioners (!)
2 x 5 Harpies
Hydra
I had the upper hand (at least I thought I did) for the first couple of turns but throughout the game I had AWFUL luck with my artillery - might have killed a couple of Harpies in total with 2 Cannons and a Mortar. Shocking - we were so used to seeing misfires we were all really surprised when they actually didn't! Shooting went into the Witchies and Executioners to remove rank bonuses mostly. The Reiksguard Knights were fortunate - busting through the Spears and running them down on the right flank with a frontal charge (down by 3 at the start of combat from static res, Hatred made the difference) but then spent a couple of turns enduring 30 RXB shots reforming themselves for another fight (losing only one Knight from something like 70ish shots much to my amusement and Ray's - and Reid's - frustration). They managed to wipe out 10 RXBs and the Cauldron crew (who had earlier fled a quick scuffle) but not before magic (Doombolt) and combat (Hag Champ from Cauldron crew) had wiped out all (including the Priest) but the unit standard bearer. He hid in a forest and survived the game still holding the DE Spear banner.
The detachment chaff rampaged forward to divert the Executioners and bait the Witch Elves. After the fortuitous despatching of some Enemy-in-the-Waying Harpies the Spears hit the front of the Witch Elves and the Swordsmen (and Arch-Lector) hit their flank. Carnage ensued as the Witch Elves were butchered without mercy. Of course it was only as I was completing my charge moves (with the Executioners sitting on the flank of the Swordsmen ready to charge in should the Witch Elves hold) did realise that the Cauldron made the flippin Witch Elves Stubborn! Incredibly they still broke and were caught and chopped up. The Spears hit the Cauldron crew sitting behind, the Swords turned and smashed into the front of the Executioners! Result!
Ironically this is the point where I lost the game.
The Executioner Champion declined the Arch-Lector's challenge. Predictably the Lector could only kill off one Executioner. And of course the only one that could attack (with 2 attacks courtesy of the nearby Cauldron) only hit once. And of course Ray dialled up the necessary '6' on that one dice to killing blow my General.
F***.
The Swords broke in the next turn and were run down. The Spears hit the 3 Cauldron crew and may as well have hit a brick wall. The Empire BSB and the Wizard took a wound for their troubles and the Witch Elf crew passed their Stubborn break check easily. Next turn the Spears broke the crew but failed to catch them - this is around the time the surviving Reiksguard intervened and dealt to them.
An interesting point of discussion that arose during all of this was the removal (or not retrospectively) of the Cauldron model itself. The rules indicate that it is a warmachine with the exception that it cannot ever be hurt. So should we have removed it? DE units within 12" of the Cauldron are Stubborn so it could have stayed and later had an impact on the game.
While all this drama was going on the Black Guard and DE General along with their Hydra mate were taking a leisurely stroll down my left flank. The Hyrda was hit in the flank by the Flagellents after some clever (I thought) baiting and march-blocking (and a lucky passed Terror check) by the GW-Knights and Pistoliers. After their sterling performance against Phil's Hyrda in a previous game I had high hopes but the useless gits fluffed their martyr roll (gaining Hatred when I really needed at least a reroll for wounds too) and only managed a to kill off one of the handlers! In return 8+ Flagellents bit the dust. Next turn they were hit by the Black Guard and DE General = one surviving Flagellent (!). The rallied GW-Knights were all ready to charge the Hydra to remove the last crew member (to at least force a monster reaction test - could have made it wander off or go unbreakable and not move for the rest of the game) but an intervening Crossbow detachment that had failed to rally neatly moved right in the way (argh!). Bugger.
A unit of RXBs claimed a tower in the middle of the field. This little machine-gun nest smashed the Handgunners and a good number of Spearmen (and a Spear detachment) before the 5 Dark Riders (who I just could not kill!) made a daring last turn charge into the front of the depleted Spear block. They fluffed (kind of) but held in return (draw - we both had musicians) and that was the game.
Washup:
I had: 1/2 Crossbow unit, a cannon, 1/2 Reiksguard Knights, Spears block (just above half), and the Free Company detachment.
Ray had: Hydra, 1/2 Black Guard, General, both Sorceresses (one on half wounds), 1/2 Executioners (which if I'd killed 3 with my last turn of shooting would have been below 25% and unable to rally), Dark Riders, an RXB unit.
A clear and deserved win to the big guy and some hard questions being asked of the highly inaccurate artillery crew (awesome range-guessing, CRAP bounces and scatters).
Second game against Reid's Daemons coming shortly. And by shortly I mean the writing was on the wall at the end of turn one...
Friday, March 13, 2009
It takes me a long time to learn a lesson
Played a great game against Derick earlier this week. And when I say 'played a great game' I mean the game was great but I played like sh!t.
The problem you see, is that my deployment was totally buggered thanks to two forests sitting just outside my deployment zone either side of the centre of the board. Actually that's not what buggered my deployment. What did it for me was deploying the Crossbows and Handgunners between these two forests and then putting the Spears behind the Handguns and the friggin Flagellents behind the Crossbows.
What the hell? Honestly I had no idea what I was doing either.
The result of this lack of strategic forward planning (or indeed lack of any planning at all) was that the vast majority of Derick's Chaos Warrior-heavy army happily rampaged down one flank, ignoring my shooting and totally stoked that they didn't have to waste precious time battering their way through the Unbreakable Flagellents. Bereft of any combat to get involved in the Flagellents were reduced to cheerlessly waving pom poms for the beleaguered Swordmen and Arch-Lector who were promptly cut to ribbons. A sudden lack of magical defense saw Derick then pummel what remained of my army with three L2 Chaos Sorcerers and it wasn't pretty. Something in the vicinity of a 15-5 loss ensued and I rued my inability to form a single cogent thought let alone the inability to play Warhammer in a sensible and logical fashion.
Having been down this path many times I'm really wondering what's wrong with me - why can I not learn my lesson and deploy... better?!
Later in the week Dark Elf Phil and I hooked up for a game. This was an exciting battle - a 10-10 result (draw) which we were both pleased with. These games (or the 11-9 or 12-8 games) are the best - things hang in the balance, moves are cagey, nothing is certain. On the flanks cannon fire did for the Chariot and an amazing 58" guess along the board nailed 3 Cold One Knights. Pistoliers caught Dark Riders after carefully using my own Knights as a meatshield. 8 Flagellents clocked up an incredible 4 wounds (and the two handlers) in a quick battle against the Hydra, running it down in pursuit.
In the centre despite my best efforts, 6 surviving DE Spearmen (from a unit of 20) blitzed through my shooting base. Bladewind is awesome against warmachines, much to the dismay of my poor Mortar crew :) The Witchelves blended the Swordsmen but the hugely frustrating Arch-Lector survived and held up the block of pyschopatic chickies for the rest of the game (although he fled in the last turn dammit). The Cauldron was fantastic!
In this game my deployment was much better but still the Handgunners were left without targets for most of the game (not necessarily a bad thing) and the Pistoliers spent some time wondering where to go and riding in circles.
I've been quite sick recently so have played less than I normally would. Time to get well, get re-energised, and get back into the 2-3 games a week I'm used to. Lord knows I need the practice!
The problem you see, is that my deployment was totally buggered thanks to two forests sitting just outside my deployment zone either side of the centre of the board. Actually that's not what buggered my deployment. What did it for me was deploying the Crossbows and Handgunners between these two forests and then putting the Spears behind the Handguns and the friggin Flagellents behind the Crossbows.
What the hell? Honestly I had no idea what I was doing either.
The result of this lack of strategic forward planning (or indeed lack of any planning at all) was that the vast majority of Derick's Chaos Warrior-heavy army happily rampaged down one flank, ignoring my shooting and totally stoked that they didn't have to waste precious time battering their way through the Unbreakable Flagellents. Bereft of any combat to get involved in the Flagellents were reduced to cheerlessly waving pom poms for the beleaguered Swordmen and Arch-Lector who were promptly cut to ribbons. A sudden lack of magical defense saw Derick then pummel what remained of my army with three L2 Chaos Sorcerers and it wasn't pretty. Something in the vicinity of a 15-5 loss ensued and I rued my inability to form a single cogent thought let alone the inability to play Warhammer in a sensible and logical fashion.
Having been down this path many times I'm really wondering what's wrong with me - why can I not learn my lesson and deploy... better?!
Later in the week Dark Elf Phil and I hooked up for a game. This was an exciting battle - a 10-10 result (draw) which we were both pleased with. These games (or the 11-9 or 12-8 games) are the best - things hang in the balance, moves are cagey, nothing is certain. On the flanks cannon fire did for the Chariot and an amazing 58" guess along the board nailed 3 Cold One Knights. Pistoliers caught Dark Riders after carefully using my own Knights as a meatshield. 8 Flagellents clocked up an incredible 4 wounds (and the two handlers) in a quick battle against the Hydra, running it down in pursuit.
In the centre despite my best efforts, 6 surviving DE Spearmen (from a unit of 20) blitzed through my shooting base. Bladewind is awesome against warmachines, much to the dismay of my poor Mortar crew :) The Witchelves blended the Swordsmen but the hugely frustrating Arch-Lector survived and held up the block of pyschopatic chickies for the rest of the game (although he fled in the last turn dammit). The Cauldron was fantastic!
In this game my deployment was much better but still the Handgunners were left without targets for most of the game (not necessarily a bad thing) and the Pistoliers spent some time wondering where to go and riding in circles.
I've been quite sick recently so have played less than I normally would. Time to get well, get re-energised, and get back into the 2-3 games a week I'm used to. Lord knows I need the practice!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The New Empire - 2250pt list for Nationals
I've started throwing around some ideas for a 2250pt (standard tournament sized) list for the Nationals at Easter. Gotta say at this point - Army Builder is great!
Spent some time in deep conversation with some experienced players gathering ideas and getting opinions on changes and additions to the fluffy list of yesterweek. I'm limited by the models that are painted but my own limited experience and ignorance is proving something of a blessing in disguise (and I still have this fluffy-ish streak running through me at the moment).
There are a number of no-nos that I'm implementing, simply from a place of where I want to take my own game, the challenges I'm seeking, and the feeling out there in community of what sucks to face off against:
- no War Altar
- no Steam Tank(s)
- no Inner Circle Knights
Pretty easy to avoid that stuff, so here's my initial list that will be getting some playtesting love over the next month as I struggle to figure out how to use an extra 250pts of army without just handing it over to my opponent :)
Arch-Lector - General, Dawn Armour, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Hammer of Judgement, Barded Warhorse: Speculum looks like fun - you don't have to use it if you don't want to; 2 prayers is great - bit of Soulfire here, bit of Unbreakable there, or a bit of 4+ ward on the General; Dawn Armour is very cool of course; the Hammer is an interesting one - toughness test for each hit or wounded automatically with no armour save.
Captain - BSB, Sword of Might, Barded Warhorse, Icon of Magnus: the higher strength is much better than a Biting Blade although on the face of it the net effect is the same; hopefully a 2+ save keeps him alive!; the Icon will help in the real-world of tournament play with all that fear-causing nastiness.
Warrior Priest - Sword of Battle, Barded Warhorse: we sure do like our Barded Warhorses :); Sword gives him an extra attack, takes advantage of Hatred and is another magic weapon should the need arise; the Priest himself represents my 3rd bound spell.
Wizard - L2, Scroll, Wizards Staff: Mr Suicide is back! Hooray! Total offensive magic phase is now 4PD and 3 bound 4 prayers (not bad). Defense is 6DD and a scroll (adequate - I hope).
The rest of the list is my FluffyCon list with a couple of important additions:
- a 5-Archer detachment for the Crossbows
- another Great Cannon (3 warmachines in total)
- 5 more Swordsmen, making it a block of 25
So the army still particpates in all phases of the game. I'm told the Arch-Lector is mean so it will be interesting to try him out. Comes in with 54% Core, 28% Characters and 17% Special (I know that doesn't mean much to some people - percentages are far from the be all and end all of calaculating for the purpose of comp) and the choices I've made indicate to me that I should be receiving the base score for Empire or a small boost from some judges (agree or disagree?). At least, I'm hoping I don't get a minus!
I think most importantly I'm really looking forward to trying the list out and playing some more games using Empire - they're doing much better than the Dwarfs ever did in terms of my motivation to keep using them. Hopefully by the time I'm done with Empire (DogCon 2010 is currently the last tournament planned for these guys) those Vampires I occasionally mention will be about ready...
Spent some time in deep conversation with some experienced players gathering ideas and getting opinions on changes and additions to the fluffy list of yesterweek. I'm limited by the models that are painted but my own limited experience and ignorance is proving something of a blessing in disguise (and I still have this fluffy-ish streak running through me at the moment).
There are a number of no-nos that I'm implementing, simply from a place of where I want to take my own game, the challenges I'm seeking, and the feeling out there in community of what sucks to face off against:
- no War Altar
- no Steam Tank(s)
- no Inner Circle Knights
Pretty easy to avoid that stuff, so here's my initial list that will be getting some playtesting love over the next month as I struggle to figure out how to use an extra 250pts of army without just handing it over to my opponent :)
Arch-Lector - General, Dawn Armour, Van Horstmann's Speculum, Hammer of Judgement, Barded Warhorse: Speculum looks like fun - you don't have to use it if you don't want to; 2 prayers is great - bit of Soulfire here, bit of Unbreakable there, or a bit of 4+ ward on the General; Dawn Armour is very cool of course; the Hammer is an interesting one - toughness test for each hit or wounded automatically with no armour save.
Captain - BSB, Sword of Might, Barded Warhorse, Icon of Magnus: the higher strength is much better than a Biting Blade although on the face of it the net effect is the same; hopefully a 2+ save keeps him alive!; the Icon will help in the real-world of tournament play with all that fear-causing nastiness.
Warrior Priest - Sword of Battle, Barded Warhorse: we sure do like our Barded Warhorses :); Sword gives him an extra attack, takes advantage of Hatred and is another magic weapon should the need arise; the Priest himself represents my 3rd bound spell.
Wizard - L2, Scroll, Wizards Staff: Mr Suicide is back! Hooray! Total offensive magic phase is now 4PD and 3 bound 4 prayers (not bad). Defense is 6DD and a scroll (adequate - I hope).
The rest of the list is my FluffyCon list with a couple of important additions:
- a 5-Archer detachment for the Crossbows
- another Great Cannon (3 warmachines in total)
- 5 more Swordsmen, making it a block of 25
So the army still particpates in all phases of the game. I'm told the Arch-Lector is mean so it will be interesting to try him out. Comes in with 54% Core, 28% Characters and 17% Special (I know that doesn't mean much to some people - percentages are far from the be all and end all of calaculating for the purpose of comp) and the choices I've made indicate to me that I should be receiving the base score for Empire or a small boost from some judges (agree or disagree?). At least, I'm hoping I don't get a minus!
I think most importantly I'm really looking forward to trying the list out and playing some more games using Empire - they're doing much better than the Dwarfs ever did in terms of my motivation to keep using them. Hopefully by the time I'm done with Empire (DogCon 2010 is currently the last tournament planned for these guys) those Vampires I occasionally mention will be about ready...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
That's a Wrap - FluffyCon post-event thoughts and army analysis
So where did I end up?
Well, setting the goal of a Top 5 was a big laugh. I was waaay off a Top 5 finish. Having said that I still maintain it's important to set a lofty goal even if you crash and burn. In a field of 38 having as your overall aim a top half of the field finish from the outset is really aiming a bit low. I'd revise that view completely in a 100+ player tournament however!
I ended up placing 18th out of 38 players - not a really poor start to the tournament season but admittedly lower than I was hoping. Tiebreakers were decided by comp score so while I was tied for 18th with 3 other people I get to claim the position as I was the one with the highest comp score. Good system :)
Full marks for painting - this wasn't fussy. If your army was fully painted to a table-top standard you got full marks. Easy.
Full marks for sports was flattering - not that I expected to get sports hits from my opponents but you can never quite tell. The mood I'm in might not be the mood my opponent is ready to cope with either way and a sports hit could happen for any number of (rightfully) subjective reasons.
58/120 battle points was very disappointing. If I'd managed a few more points (say breaking just over half battle points) I would have jumped up 4 or 5 places! That's how close it was in the middle of the pack!
Comp. Hmm. Despite feeling I was trying hard to build a 'soft' Empire army and despite the generous comments of some of my opponents (and various passers-by) I'd have to say the judges got it right in my case. It was a leadership 8 army - yes. But it still had warmachines, fast and heavy cav, big blocks including one big Unbreakable unit, lots of diverters, some magic, some magic eq. It participated in every phase in an ok way. Was it softer than a standard tournament Empire army? Yes - hence my NCM of +2. I'm happy with the comp score I received - kudos and appreciation to the judges for their scoring. Some armies received a 'soft card' for getting an NCM of +4 or more and some players were really questioning the logic of this - certain Daemon armies, a certain Lizardmen army with 1+ save characters (hehe) etc. I didn't really have a problem with this (despite giving the TO some stick about it at dinner on Saturday night) - after all the rules pack was VERY clear on how the scoring would work.
Having said that I think the 'soft card' system could be dropped in the future - it was an additional extra that didn't add much to the event but created some (at times) negative controversy. A good idea but one that could perhaps be let go I think.
Congratulations again to the judges and to the TO for their work with regards to comp - it is and likely always will be the bugbear of tournaments in Australasia - they did a great job! Good stuff lads! I thought Nick's card-shuffling Swiss Chess draw system was the stuff of legends - it worked great and was also very entertaining to watch :) The player's pack, registration details and information, paperwork on the day, communication with the community... all just bloody fantastic. Sets the bar high and is inspiring stuff for those of us interested in running our own events in the future. Good job old man!
A unit by unit breakdown of the Empire list I took goes something like this:
Captain (General) with Dawn Armour and Sword of Might
This guy was a bit of a tank (1+ rerollable) in a FluffyCon context, even with only two wounds. The extra strength from the Sword was useful but only having three attacks was pretty poor. The lower leadership was obviously a recurring issue but it taught me some important lessons about panic and psychology which I'm sure I will be greatful for in the long term. Having previously played Lizardmen (with the Cold-Blooded rule) and Dwarfs (with leadership 9 across the whole army) I learnt a lot about the careful placement of the General and his leadership bubble. Will be swapped out for a higher leadership Lord choice in a bigger army.
Captain (BSB) with Meteoric Iron and Biting Blade
Good save, sometimes struggled to survive (the danger of carrying a big flag I guess). The Biting Blade was pretty hopeless but gave him a magic weapon. Went in whatever unit the General wasn't in to give me some more leadership-enhancing goodness. Will try him mounted (to save points by not taking Meteoric Iron) with anti-Fear item.
Warrior Priest mounted with shield
Bare bones stuff. Hatred was pretty cool. Needs magic gear - a weapon at the very least. A higher points list will give me more options to equip him with a variety of experimental toys. ALWAYS went with the Reiksguard Knights. Always. Struggled to get the bound prayer off - a bigger magic phase would have helped this enormously (something else to think about in a bigger list).
L2 Wizard with Scroll and Wizard's Staff
I learnt not to worry about miscasts, gallantly chucking 4 dice at most spells with the Staff. Died a lot due to my penchant for having him wander around outside of units :) I didn't always choose his Lore wisely (i.e. game against "Soft Scores") and should be giving this more thought. Often realise post-game that Fire is the best because it usually gives me ranged options against Skirmishers that my shooting struggles to adequately deal with.
Reiksguard Knights
Mark swore by the Steel Standard (extra D3" to charge range) but I just can't gamble on that kind of roll. The Warbanner is a solid choice. Six seems a decent enough number (don't have the balls to run enough to get a rank bonus - so expensive!). Their save is awesome and with the Priest they have a measure of reliability (going into a combat with static 2 - banner/Warbanner - and Hatred gives you a decent shot at breaking something). I charged with them too often - the game against Ryan (and the doomed charge against the Quetzl Saurus) being a great example. Should be thinking about the threat of charging them, not just the actual charge itself.
Knights with Great Weapons (GW-Knights)
Good for a laugh and simultaneously managing to be extremely frustrating. A 100pt semi-throwaway unit. Good bait. Sometimes useful for a supporting charge (Cav in the flank is still Cav in the flank, even if they suck). They'll stay because my available models are limited.
20 Swords with full command, 5 Xbow detachment, 9 Spears detachment
Again limited by the models available. I'll be adding in another 5 Swords at 2250pts but won't change the detachments (even though Swordsmen/Free Company/Archers would be better) partly due to available models and partly because I like the thought that I'm doing something different (and also because the 9-man Spear detachment looks like a spikey little hedgehog which is awesome). The 4+ save on the Swords was great, their initiative of 4 surprised some opponents. Most semi-experienced players are well0aware of the Detachment rules but I maintain that if you play the game well enough they won't be left with any option but to charge (and get counter-charged in the flank) or get charged. It worked out well for me in most games anyway.
25 Spearmen with full command, 9 Handgunner detachment, 9 Free Company detachment
As above but Spearmen suck quite a bit more. The extra attacks for the spears in two ranks does not in any way justify the loss of the weapon skill and initiative. Often I found I would opt to use hand weapon and shield anyway (instead of the spears). Big block, difficult to remove the rank bonus. Usually accompanied by the General (for reasons I cannot fathom the BSB almost always ended up with the Swordsmen). A keeper unit selection but not a terribly reliable one.
20 Flagellents with Prophet of Dooooom!
A tricky proposition for most opponents because even with crap weapon skill and toughness and no armour they are still Unbreakable which means if I can hold someone for a crucial turn another block and some Knights can step in and cane you. If charged they died in droves. If allowed to get the charge they martyred themselves and usually caused substantial damage. The main issue is that they died off completely in 5/6 games which gives away 210VPs. They just don't survive the game and this loss is something I need to plan for more efficiently early in the game.
10 Huntsmen
Cheers to Bignic for lending me these. The good ol' Huntsmen were alternately totally crap and extreme wood ninjas. I took them mostly for the 'soft choice/concession' powers but they probably weren't worth it. Nice to have Scouts although this sometimes just got them killed off a lot quicker :) Dropped in the 2250pt list for a 5-Archer detachment for the Xbows and to get some points spare to upgrade the Captain to a Lord.
10 Crossbows
I guess a standard choice. Helped give me some shooting options. These guys get a little Archer detachment at 2250pts - hey, they've earned it :)
Cannon and Mortar
I was initially running a Helblaster too but thankfully dropped it for the event. Both of these warmachines are great but of course you are at the mercy of the dice. My ability to guess ranges is gradually improving which helps but I would sometimes find myself consistently guessing short (rather than long) and the bounce for the cannon was not always favourable. Neither of them self-immolated in the whole tournament! Amazing! Putting in another Cannon at 2250pts because they rock hard against monsters and other warmachines. The Mortar was surprisingly effective (the surprise being mostly my opponents) - I'll be keeping it for entertainment value if nothing else.
Pistoliers
Another unit I find difficult to use. I tend to get these guys killed off distressingly quickly - caught between wanting to get the most out of their shooting capacity (which was a rollercoaster ride in and of itself!) and their Fast Cav status which allowed them to bait, flee rally and move again. Will take more practice with these guys to understand them more but they are no doubt a crucial part of the army and will keep there place in a bigger points list.
Overall
It ain't an easy army to use and I'm very happy about this! I want to get better as a general and get better at the game overall. The army makes a contribution in all phases of the game (although quite light on magic by comparison to some) and gets me thinking ahead some of the time. It has holes and weaknesses but at the same time has the tools to deal with everything that's out there to some extent. Most importantly after playing with Empire for about 3 months I'm still mad keen about the army and excited about using them for the rest of the year!
Coming up next - Nationals and my 2250pt list!
Well, setting the goal of a Top 5 was a big laugh. I was waaay off a Top 5 finish. Having said that I still maintain it's important to set a lofty goal even if you crash and burn. In a field of 38 having as your overall aim a top half of the field finish from the outset is really aiming a bit low. I'd revise that view completely in a 100+ player tournament however!
I ended up placing 18th out of 38 players - not a really poor start to the tournament season but admittedly lower than I was hoping. Tiebreakers were decided by comp score so while I was tied for 18th with 3 other people I get to claim the position as I was the one with the highest comp score. Good system :)
Full marks for painting - this wasn't fussy. If your army was fully painted to a table-top standard you got full marks. Easy.
Full marks for sports was flattering - not that I expected to get sports hits from my opponents but you can never quite tell. The mood I'm in might not be the mood my opponent is ready to cope with either way and a sports hit could happen for any number of (rightfully) subjective reasons.
58/120 battle points was very disappointing. If I'd managed a few more points (say breaking just over half battle points) I would have jumped up 4 or 5 places! That's how close it was in the middle of the pack!
Comp. Hmm. Despite feeling I was trying hard to build a 'soft' Empire army and despite the generous comments of some of my opponents (and various passers-by) I'd have to say the judges got it right in my case. It was a leadership 8 army - yes. But it still had warmachines, fast and heavy cav, big blocks including one big Unbreakable unit, lots of diverters, some magic, some magic eq. It participated in every phase in an ok way. Was it softer than a standard tournament Empire army? Yes - hence my NCM of +2. I'm happy with the comp score I received - kudos and appreciation to the judges for their scoring. Some armies received a 'soft card' for getting an NCM of +4 or more and some players were really questioning the logic of this - certain Daemon armies, a certain Lizardmen army with 1+ save characters (hehe) etc. I didn't really have a problem with this (despite giving the TO some stick about it at dinner on Saturday night) - after all the rules pack was VERY clear on how the scoring would work.
Having said that I think the 'soft card' system could be dropped in the future - it was an additional extra that didn't add much to the event but created some (at times) negative controversy. A good idea but one that could perhaps be let go I think.
Congratulations again to the judges and to the TO for their work with regards to comp - it is and likely always will be the bugbear of tournaments in Australasia - they did a great job! Good stuff lads! I thought Nick's card-shuffling Swiss Chess draw system was the stuff of legends - it worked great and was also very entertaining to watch :) The player's pack, registration details and information, paperwork on the day, communication with the community... all just bloody fantastic. Sets the bar high and is inspiring stuff for those of us interested in running our own events in the future. Good job old man!
A unit by unit breakdown of the Empire list I took goes something like this:
Captain (General) with Dawn Armour and Sword of Might
This guy was a bit of a tank (1+ rerollable) in a FluffyCon context, even with only two wounds. The extra strength from the Sword was useful but only having three attacks was pretty poor. The lower leadership was obviously a recurring issue but it taught me some important lessons about panic and psychology which I'm sure I will be greatful for in the long term. Having previously played Lizardmen (with the Cold-Blooded rule) and Dwarfs (with leadership 9 across the whole army) I learnt a lot about the careful placement of the General and his leadership bubble. Will be swapped out for a higher leadership Lord choice in a bigger army.
Captain (BSB) with Meteoric Iron and Biting Blade
Good save, sometimes struggled to survive (the danger of carrying a big flag I guess). The Biting Blade was pretty hopeless but gave him a magic weapon. Went in whatever unit the General wasn't in to give me some more leadership-enhancing goodness. Will try him mounted (to save points by not taking Meteoric Iron) with anti-Fear item.
Warrior Priest mounted with shield
Bare bones stuff. Hatred was pretty cool. Needs magic gear - a weapon at the very least. A higher points list will give me more options to equip him with a variety of experimental toys. ALWAYS went with the Reiksguard Knights. Always. Struggled to get the bound prayer off - a bigger magic phase would have helped this enormously (something else to think about in a bigger list).
L2 Wizard with Scroll and Wizard's Staff
I learnt not to worry about miscasts, gallantly chucking 4 dice at most spells with the Staff. Died a lot due to my penchant for having him wander around outside of units :) I didn't always choose his Lore wisely (i.e. game against "Soft Scores") and should be giving this more thought. Often realise post-game that Fire is the best because it usually gives me ranged options against Skirmishers that my shooting struggles to adequately deal with.
Reiksguard Knights
Mark swore by the Steel Standard (extra D3" to charge range) but I just can't gamble on that kind of roll. The Warbanner is a solid choice. Six seems a decent enough number (don't have the balls to run enough to get a rank bonus - so expensive!). Their save is awesome and with the Priest they have a measure of reliability (going into a combat with static 2 - banner/Warbanner - and Hatred gives you a decent shot at breaking something). I charged with them too often - the game against Ryan (and the doomed charge against the Quetzl Saurus) being a great example. Should be thinking about the threat of charging them, not just the actual charge itself.
Knights with Great Weapons (GW-Knights)
Good for a laugh and simultaneously managing to be extremely frustrating. A 100pt semi-throwaway unit. Good bait. Sometimes useful for a supporting charge (Cav in the flank is still Cav in the flank, even if they suck). They'll stay because my available models are limited.
20 Swords with full command, 5 Xbow detachment, 9 Spears detachment
Again limited by the models available. I'll be adding in another 5 Swords at 2250pts but won't change the detachments (even though Swordsmen/Free Company/Archers would be better) partly due to available models and partly because I like the thought that I'm doing something different (and also because the 9-man Spear detachment looks like a spikey little hedgehog which is awesome). The 4+ save on the Swords was great, their initiative of 4 surprised some opponents. Most semi-experienced players are well0aware of the Detachment rules but I maintain that if you play the game well enough they won't be left with any option but to charge (and get counter-charged in the flank) or get charged. It worked out well for me in most games anyway.
25 Spearmen with full command, 9 Handgunner detachment, 9 Free Company detachment
As above but Spearmen suck quite a bit more. The extra attacks for the spears in two ranks does not in any way justify the loss of the weapon skill and initiative. Often I found I would opt to use hand weapon and shield anyway (instead of the spears). Big block, difficult to remove the rank bonus. Usually accompanied by the General (for reasons I cannot fathom the BSB almost always ended up with the Swordsmen). A keeper unit selection but not a terribly reliable one.
20 Flagellents with Prophet of Dooooom!
A tricky proposition for most opponents because even with crap weapon skill and toughness and no armour they are still Unbreakable which means if I can hold someone for a crucial turn another block and some Knights can step in and cane you. If charged they died in droves. If allowed to get the charge they martyred themselves and usually caused substantial damage. The main issue is that they died off completely in 5/6 games which gives away 210VPs. They just don't survive the game and this loss is something I need to plan for more efficiently early in the game.
10 Huntsmen
Cheers to Bignic for lending me these. The good ol' Huntsmen were alternately totally crap and extreme wood ninjas. I took them mostly for the 'soft choice/concession' powers but they probably weren't worth it. Nice to have Scouts although this sometimes just got them killed off a lot quicker :) Dropped in the 2250pt list for a 5-Archer detachment for the Xbows and to get some points spare to upgrade the Captain to a Lord.
10 Crossbows
I guess a standard choice. Helped give me some shooting options. These guys get a little Archer detachment at 2250pts - hey, they've earned it :)
Cannon and Mortar
I was initially running a Helblaster too but thankfully dropped it for the event. Both of these warmachines are great but of course you are at the mercy of the dice. My ability to guess ranges is gradually improving which helps but I would sometimes find myself consistently guessing short (rather than long) and the bounce for the cannon was not always favourable. Neither of them self-immolated in the whole tournament! Amazing! Putting in another Cannon at 2250pts because they rock hard against monsters and other warmachines. The Mortar was surprisingly effective (the surprise being mostly my opponents) - I'll be keeping it for entertainment value if nothing else.
Pistoliers
Another unit I find difficult to use. I tend to get these guys killed off distressingly quickly - caught between wanting to get the most out of their shooting capacity (which was a rollercoaster ride in and of itself!) and their Fast Cav status which allowed them to bait, flee rally and move again. Will take more practice with these guys to understand them more but they are no doubt a crucial part of the army and will keep there place in a bigger points list.
Overall
It ain't an easy army to use and I'm very happy about this! I want to get better as a general and get better at the game overall. The army makes a contribution in all phases of the game (although quite light on magic by comparison to some) and gets me thinking ahead some of the time. It has holes and weaknesses but at the same time has the tools to deal with everything that's out there to some extent. Most importantly after playing with Empire for about 3 months I'm still mad keen about the army and excited about using them for the rest of the year!
Coming up next - Nationals and my 2250pt list!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Kennen Sie Meinen Vetter? Sein Name ist Hans* - FluffyCon Game Six (Mark Owen)
Mark's WIP Empire army, soon to be painted in the outstanding Ostermark (purple/yellow) colour scheme received an almost mind boggling NCM of +3 (mind boggling in that I supposed it might get more and *gasp* even be thought of as fluffy!
Mark had:
Templar General with the Sword of That Guy is Dead Meat on a Stick Mate (Sword of Fate - important later...)
Mounted BSB
Wizzo with accursed Burning Head-toting bound item
Fluffy Engineer with Hochland (which was never shot because he was to busy firing off), Pigeon Bombs (which were apparently devastating in a couple of previous games)
The General was leading a unit trying for "Worst Deathstar Ever" award - 8 Knights of the White Wolf (aka Knights of teh Suck) - full command
Helblaster (Engineer goes here for Ballistic Skill funtimes)
5 Pistoliers that looked an awful lot like mine...
The rest of the army was 3 HUGE (30-strong) blocks of Swords/Spears/Halberds with a 15-strong detachment each of Halberds or Swordsmen (that is to say, no shooting troops).
Of great concern (in the grand scheme of things) was the "Deathstar" of GW-wielding Knights. With static 4 (rank, outnumber - possibly, banner, BSB) and some likely kills it was more than a danger to my fragile and mostly unskilled infantrymen.
Deployment was most amusing - the two Pistolier units hid from each other at opposite ends of the board (the premise being that he who gets shot first, dies first), the infantry lined up against each other for some informal playground bullrush and the Knights tried desperately to wait till the last minute to out-deploy the opposing hitty-smashy Knight unit. Fortunately I had more crap than Mark and managed to get the jump on his Knights by placing mine slightly to the flank of his so if they went for the guts of my army they would be hit (moderately hard) in the flank (the Flagellents initially moved to make this happen) by the Reiksguard. I placed by own GW-Knights on the opposite flank (mostly so that they didn't get any traitorous stirrings and nip off to join the opposition!).
Thanks to a handily located forest the Huntsmen rather adeptly ambushed the Pistoliers before smacking into the Helblaster (after the Cannon failed to take it out despite a palpable first turn hit). It took them a couple of turns (and one LUCKY break test at -2) but they eventually did for the Engineer and his apprentice buddies and kept themselves alive for the rest of the game.
The GW-Knights (mine) hid behind the aforementioned forest for 4 turns facing the flank of the enemy infantry. Their patience was rewarded when they got a flank charge on a block of Halberdiers who were engaged against the Swordsmen, Their charge was enough to break the resolve of the enemy and allowed everyone to pursue happily off into the sunset, avoiding a last turn charge by what was left of the rather disgruntled Templar Master and his 3 surviving mates. So how did the Knights end up in that position?
Well! Mark advanced rather cautiously, painfully aware of the Knights on his flank and the Flagellents lurking with a great lack of subtlety just itching to pin him down. Unfortunately for him this allowed my Pistoliers to have a field day sitting behind them and casually riddling 4 with bullets before they were even close to seeing some action (the long-term issue with this Deathstar was that with the Templar General tagging along they were Immune to Psychology and therefore couldn't panicked by a bit of shot and cannon). Mark had carefully explained how the Sword of Fate works and, being the lucky nominated target, my General was rather reticent to go anywhere near the unit (wounding on 2+, D3 wounds, no armour saves... good grief. He sounds like a bloody Vampire!). However this also meant I might be able to tempt the Templar out with a solo charge. The Wizard (Mr Suicide - TM) had the privelege of giving this a go first and succeeded in luring out the BSB. The Empire General took his chance - solo charging the BSB! He managed to dispatch his foe over two rounds combat, leaving just enough time to courageously bury himself in the Reiksguard formation as they turned to face the enemy knights, tempting them to charge. And charge they did! The brave Reiksguard Champion accepted the Templar Grand Master's challenge and survived. I lost a knight but somehow mananged to take two down in return (Hatred being the telling factor in this little skirmish). In the end the White Wolves were down by 3 and broke but sadly I failed to catch them (a turn of the dice I greatly lamented at the end of the game).
That's how they ended up on the other side of the battlefield :)
The Flagellents eventally contacted a giant Spear unit while the nearby Reiksguard Knights obliterated the Spear unit's hapless detachment in a fantastic display of overkill. The Flagellents died to a man - literally - only the Prophet of Doom survived the battle.
Mark's highly annoying Wizard was firing off Burning Heads left, right and centre. The last straw was when he managed to panic the Reiksguard (containing the Priest and General and holding two enemy standards). With one turn left to rally I was lucky to make the rally check and they ended up safe as houses behind a nice big forest, holding on tight to all those juicy victory points.
Totalling up the enormous amount of casualties I was both relieved and somewhat frustrated to end up with a 16-4 win (if only I had caught those blasted Knights and the General!). It was a great end to the tournament and Mark was a gracious opponent who I thought took a really soft army (even the "Deathstar" was soft... as Deathstar's go) and played well with limited resources at his disposal. He was happy to admit his OTT list (complete with Ludwig Schwartzenegger... or whatever his name is) was quite a bit harder and I held him in high esteem for giving this event a go with a largely infantry-based Empire list (especially a Templar Grand Master who, positioned on the flank, meant his infantry were all leadership 7!).
So the 16-4 put me just short of halfway - 58 out of 120 battle points :/
The next couple of posts will be my thoughts on the event, reflections on the performance of my Empire army and a look at my 2250pt list as I prepare for the next great event - Nationals at Easter (8 games! Woo-hoo!) which is only 5 and a bit weeks away! Yay!!!
* Do you know my cousin? His name is Hans.
Mark had:
Templar General with the Sword of That Guy is Dead Meat on a Stick Mate (Sword of Fate - important later...)
Mounted BSB
Wizzo with accursed Burning Head-toting bound item
Fluffy Engineer with Hochland (which was never shot because he was to busy firing off), Pigeon Bombs (which were apparently devastating in a couple of previous games)
The General was leading a unit trying for "Worst Deathstar Ever" award - 8 Knights of the White Wolf (aka Knights of teh Suck) - full command
Helblaster (Engineer goes here for Ballistic Skill funtimes)
5 Pistoliers that looked an awful lot like mine...
The rest of the army was 3 HUGE (30-strong) blocks of Swords/Spears/Halberds with a 15-strong detachment each of Halberds or Swordsmen (that is to say, no shooting troops).
Of great concern (in the grand scheme of things) was the "Deathstar" of GW-wielding Knights. With static 4 (rank, outnumber - possibly, banner, BSB) and some likely kills it was more than a danger to my fragile and mostly unskilled infantrymen.
Deployment was most amusing - the two Pistolier units hid from each other at opposite ends of the board (the premise being that he who gets shot first, dies first), the infantry lined up against each other for some informal playground bullrush and the Knights tried desperately to wait till the last minute to out-deploy the opposing hitty-smashy Knight unit. Fortunately I had more crap than Mark and managed to get the jump on his Knights by placing mine slightly to the flank of his so if they went for the guts of my army they would be hit (moderately hard) in the flank (the Flagellents initially moved to make this happen) by the Reiksguard. I placed by own GW-Knights on the opposite flank (mostly so that they didn't get any traitorous stirrings and nip off to join the opposition!).
Thanks to a handily located forest the Huntsmen rather adeptly ambushed the Pistoliers before smacking into the Helblaster (after the Cannon failed to take it out despite a palpable first turn hit). It took them a couple of turns (and one LUCKY break test at -2) but they eventually did for the Engineer and his apprentice buddies and kept themselves alive for the rest of the game.
The GW-Knights (mine) hid behind the aforementioned forest for 4 turns facing the flank of the enemy infantry. Their patience was rewarded when they got a flank charge on a block of Halberdiers who were engaged against the Swordsmen, Their charge was enough to break the resolve of the enemy and allowed everyone to pursue happily off into the sunset, avoiding a last turn charge by what was left of the rather disgruntled Templar Master and his 3 surviving mates. So how did the Knights end up in that position?
Well! Mark advanced rather cautiously, painfully aware of the Knights on his flank and the Flagellents lurking with a great lack of subtlety just itching to pin him down. Unfortunately for him this allowed my Pistoliers to have a field day sitting behind them and casually riddling 4 with bullets before they were even close to seeing some action (the long-term issue with this Deathstar was that with the Templar General tagging along they were Immune to Psychology and therefore couldn't panicked by a bit of shot and cannon). Mark had carefully explained how the Sword of Fate works and, being the lucky nominated target, my General was rather reticent to go anywhere near the unit (wounding on 2+, D3 wounds, no armour saves... good grief. He sounds like a bloody Vampire!). However this also meant I might be able to tempt the Templar out with a solo charge. The Wizard (Mr Suicide - TM) had the privelege of giving this a go first and succeeded in luring out the BSB. The Empire General took his chance - solo charging the BSB! He managed to dispatch his foe over two rounds combat, leaving just enough time to courageously bury himself in the Reiksguard formation as they turned to face the enemy knights, tempting them to charge. And charge they did! The brave Reiksguard Champion accepted the Templar Grand Master's challenge and survived. I lost a knight but somehow mananged to take two down in return (Hatred being the telling factor in this little skirmish). In the end the White Wolves were down by 3 and broke but sadly I failed to catch them (a turn of the dice I greatly lamented at the end of the game).
That's how they ended up on the other side of the battlefield :)
The Flagellents eventally contacted a giant Spear unit while the nearby Reiksguard Knights obliterated the Spear unit's hapless detachment in a fantastic display of overkill. The Flagellents died to a man - literally - only the Prophet of Doom survived the battle.
Mark's highly annoying Wizard was firing off Burning Heads left, right and centre. The last straw was when he managed to panic the Reiksguard (containing the Priest and General and holding two enemy standards). With one turn left to rally I was lucky to make the rally check and they ended up safe as houses behind a nice big forest, holding on tight to all those juicy victory points.
Totalling up the enormous amount of casualties I was both relieved and somewhat frustrated to end up with a 16-4 win (if only I had caught those blasted Knights and the General!). It was a great end to the tournament and Mark was a gracious opponent who I thought took a really soft army (even the "Deathstar" was soft... as Deathstar's go) and played well with limited resources at his disposal. He was happy to admit his OTT list (complete with Ludwig Schwartzenegger... or whatever his name is) was quite a bit harder and I held him in high esteem for giving this event a go with a largely infantry-based Empire list (especially a Templar Grand Master who, positioned on the flank, meant his infantry were all leadership 7!).
So the 16-4 put me just short of halfway - 58 out of 120 battle points :/
The next couple of posts will be my thoughts on the event, reflections on the performance of my Empire army and a look at my 2250pt list as I prepare for the next great event - Nationals at Easter (8 games! Woo-hoo!) which is only 5 and a bit weeks away! Yay!!!
* Do you know my cousin? His name is Hans.
Something in the Trees - FluffyCon Game Five (Nick Irvine)
Nick Irvine (that's "Captain Soft Scores" to you!) is without doubt one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to play.
How's that for prefacing my most (recent) humiliating defeat - the 20-0 drubbing Nick handed out in my fifth game of the weekend.
Nick's Wood Elves (NCM of -2) list was a no-Spirits affair that looked something like this:
EDIT - check the comment at the end of this post for a more accurate version of the list from the man himself. Thanks Nick :)
Choppy boss Noble with 3+ ward and big stick (great weapon)
Choppy fast Noble (Alter Kindred) with great weapon
L1 Spellsinger with 2 scrolls
2 x 12 Gladeguard with full command (or just muso and standard?)
5 or so Glade Riders
4 Warhawk Riders
6 Waywatchers
6 Wild Riders with some kind of nasty trumpet-thing (?!) and full command
Biiiig block of Eternal Guard with full command
6 or 7 (maybe 8) Wardancers with Champion (and potentially a musician)
There were a couple of amusing episodes in this game (admittedly some more amusing for Nick than me):
- 6 Waywatchers burst out of a forest, annihilating the Pistoliers in a single round of shooting. This panics not only a nearby detachment but also the Crossbows (a "parent unit") who flee sideways down the board almost through me entire army and astounding 42" flee move! Incredibly no one else panicked (could have been a very quick game)! That must be what it's like playing Skaven...
- a peach of a cannon shot at an exposed Wardancer hiding (not so well) in a forest saw the cannonball land on the Spellsinger's head. She wasn't part of the unit so no "Look Out, Sir!" roll for her! Typically I follow this up with a "1" for the D6 wounds roll. Sigh.
- Funny business vis a vis Knights fleeing from the Alter Kindred saw him take a cannonball to the face. This time the cannon did what it says on the box and smeared him across the landscape.
- The Reiksguard, bereft of their Priest after some solo charging foolishness, ended up "forcing" the Wild Riders to charge them. Smart plan Dave - the Wilder Riders ran over them almost like they weren't there. The two surviving knights auto-broke, escaped and rallied but took another charge anyway in the following round.
- Between them the 2 units of Gladeguard and the Waywatchers managed to dispatch the Flagellents, the Swordsmen block and (thanks to a Killing Blow arrow) the BSB. This was definitely the worst part of the game - after a good opening shot the Mortar was taken out meaning I had no answers to the Wood Elves awesome shooting. Trudging hopelessly across the board into all that firepower (while being mostly march-blocked) was about as frustrating as it gets. Of course I should never have put myself in that position in the first place!
- As the sole survivor of the army the Warrior Priest charged into the Eternal Guard in the last turn. He did this for no other reason than the fact that I was feeling so sorry for myself I thought I might as well have absolutely nothing left at the end of the game. We didn't bother with the math at the end but I do wonder if, keeping him alive, I might have still scored a 19-1 loss instead of a 20-0. Probably not but seeing red and getting all depressed and sulky (and suicidal)wasn't the greatest decision (in a game of generally poor decisions).
I think I ended up taking the Warhawks to 1/2 strength, the Eternal Guard to 1/2 (maybe, possibly not), the Glade Riders (fled off the board after an unfortunate failed rally check) and the Alter Noble. So, bugger all then. In return Nick wiped me out, had 4 quarters and 4 standards. Brutal.
Post-tournament I approached smarter players than I on what they would have done. I realised in hindsight I had played either:
a) incredibly foolishly
b) like a total moron
c) worse than the newest newbie, or
d) all of the above
Why weren't the Knights facing off against the Gladeguard? Why weren't the Flagellents facing the Eternal Guard and Wild Riders? Why were my Pistoliers placed in the perfect position to get instantly vapourised and in doing so cause panic checks on units beyond the General's leadership? Why weren't my Swordsmen facing anything???!!
I reckon "d) all of the above" looks like not a bad selection!
I unfairly gave Nick a bit of stick afterwards about using a 40k army and really this wasn't justifiable - sorry mate. Fact is I was never in control of the game, placed my units in almost the absolute poorest positions possible, played right into his hands with duff maneouvering and basically (just like I did against Marcello in round five at Fields of Blood - egad! Maybe round five in my jinx round of death?) failed to give a great opponent a decent game. I felt like a right idiot from go to (almost immediate) woe and if you've ever been on the receiving end it's not a nice feeling. Total inadequacy - not something any man can admit to liking a good dose of.
Hopefully Nick plays at Tin Soldiers 2 later this year so I can grudge him and attempt to make up for my callow performance :)
This exciting experience left me needing an 18-2 win in the last round just to break even and get 1/2 battle points for the competition. You can possibly imagine my trepidation when I drew Mark Owen who had a podium finish at OTT the previous weekend and, oh dear... it looks like he's using...
Empire.
Time for some immature name-calling using our worst psuedo-German accents and some good old-fashioned civil war action!
How's that for prefacing my most (recent) humiliating defeat - the 20-0 drubbing Nick handed out in my fifth game of the weekend.
Nick's Wood Elves (NCM of -2) list was a no-Spirits affair that looked something like this:
EDIT - check the comment at the end of this post for a more accurate version of the list from the man himself. Thanks Nick :)
Choppy boss Noble with 3+ ward and big stick (great weapon)
Choppy fast Noble (Alter Kindred) with great weapon
L1 Spellsinger with 2 scrolls
2 x 12 Gladeguard with full command (or just muso and standard?)
5 or so Glade Riders
4 Warhawk Riders
6 Waywatchers
6 Wild Riders with some kind of nasty trumpet-thing (?!) and full command
Biiiig block of Eternal Guard with full command
6 or 7 (maybe 8) Wardancers with Champion (and potentially a musician)
There were a couple of amusing episodes in this game (admittedly some more amusing for Nick than me):
- 6 Waywatchers burst out of a forest, annihilating the Pistoliers in a single round of shooting. This panics not only a nearby detachment but also the Crossbows (a "parent unit") who flee sideways down the board almost through me entire army and astounding 42" flee move! Incredibly no one else panicked (could have been a very quick game)! That must be what it's like playing Skaven...
- a peach of a cannon shot at an exposed Wardancer hiding (not so well) in a forest saw the cannonball land on the Spellsinger's head. She wasn't part of the unit so no "Look Out, Sir!" roll for her! Typically I follow this up with a "1" for the D6 wounds roll. Sigh.
- Funny business vis a vis Knights fleeing from the Alter Kindred saw him take a cannonball to the face. This time the cannon did what it says on the box and smeared him across the landscape.
- The Reiksguard, bereft of their Priest after some solo charging foolishness, ended up "forcing" the Wild Riders to charge them. Smart plan Dave - the Wilder Riders ran over them almost like they weren't there. The two surviving knights auto-broke, escaped and rallied but took another charge anyway in the following round.
- Between them the 2 units of Gladeguard and the Waywatchers managed to dispatch the Flagellents, the Swordsmen block and (thanks to a Killing Blow arrow) the BSB. This was definitely the worst part of the game - after a good opening shot the Mortar was taken out meaning I had no answers to the Wood Elves awesome shooting. Trudging hopelessly across the board into all that firepower (while being mostly march-blocked) was about as frustrating as it gets. Of course I should never have put myself in that position in the first place!
- As the sole survivor of the army the Warrior Priest charged into the Eternal Guard in the last turn. He did this for no other reason than the fact that I was feeling so sorry for myself I thought I might as well have absolutely nothing left at the end of the game. We didn't bother with the math at the end but I do wonder if, keeping him alive, I might have still scored a 19-1 loss instead of a 20-0. Probably not but seeing red and getting all depressed and sulky (and suicidal)wasn't the greatest decision (in a game of generally poor decisions).
I think I ended up taking the Warhawks to 1/2 strength, the Eternal Guard to 1/2 (maybe, possibly not), the Glade Riders (fled off the board after an unfortunate failed rally check) and the Alter Noble. So, bugger all then. In return Nick wiped me out, had 4 quarters and 4 standards. Brutal.
Post-tournament I approached smarter players than I on what they would have done. I realised in hindsight I had played either:
a) incredibly foolishly
b) like a total moron
c) worse than the newest newbie, or
d) all of the above
Why weren't the Knights facing off against the Gladeguard? Why weren't the Flagellents facing the Eternal Guard and Wild Riders? Why were my Pistoliers placed in the perfect position to get instantly vapourised and in doing so cause panic checks on units beyond the General's leadership? Why weren't my Swordsmen facing anything???!!
I reckon "d) all of the above" looks like not a bad selection!
I unfairly gave Nick a bit of stick afterwards about using a 40k army and really this wasn't justifiable - sorry mate. Fact is I was never in control of the game, placed my units in almost the absolute poorest positions possible, played right into his hands with duff maneouvering and basically (just like I did against Marcello in round five at Fields of Blood - egad! Maybe round five in my jinx round of death?) failed to give a great opponent a decent game. I felt like a right idiot from go to (almost immediate) woe and if you've ever been on the receiving end it's not a nice feeling. Total inadequacy - not something any man can admit to liking a good dose of.
Hopefully Nick plays at Tin Soldiers 2 later this year so I can grudge him and attempt to make up for my callow performance :)
This exciting experience left me needing an 18-2 win in the last round just to break even and get 1/2 battle points for the competition. You can possibly imagine my trepidation when I drew Mark Owen who had a podium finish at OTT the previous weekend and, oh dear... it looks like he's using...
Empire.
Time for some immature name-calling using our worst psuedo-German accents and some good old-fashioned civil war action!
Avoision (intentionally misspelt)
The next report is coming but with a lot of procrastination. There's something unmanning about suffering a 20-0 loss and I'm fighting a lengthy battle against my shattered ego in order to get a fitting report written that somehow makes me look like less of a bad player and more the unfortunate victim of appalling circumstance. I also really don't want to demean my opponent - their skill or their behaviour - because he's infamously known as possibly the nicest guy in NZ Warhammer (and the blighter received by Best Sports vote darn it!) and is a great player too!
So, the next post is coming - likely tonight.
So, the next post is coming - likely tonight.
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