NatCon Round Eight - Joe Dixon (High Elves)

On the home stretch after a marathon 7 games (and very little sleep) and I drew that list. Dang.

Star Dragon with armoured up boss
9 Dragon Princes with ItP 'enemy no longer have Frenzy/Hatred' banner
BSB on Steed
2 bolties
10 Archers
Lots of Spears with Warbanner
2 x 5 or 6 Swordmasters
Tiranoc Chariot
2 Eagles


Like the battle against his brother I don't have too much to say about this game. The Dragon should have died - 4 consecutive Cannon shots yielded 4 consecutive misfires that stopped me from taking it's last wound. Or maybe I should have ignored (???) the Dragon and Cannoned the bolt throwers instead? The big lizard flapped around, roasted some Spearmen and beat up the Swordsmen. My Arch-Lector solo-charged the Dragon Princes and began steadily hewing his way through them but I was so tired I forgot to move the BSB in range to pass the break checks - got lucky for a couple of turns but broke eventually and was run down. Reckoned I could have taken them if I'd stayed in the fight! Shooting annilhated the detachments one at a time. The Flagellents hit the Spearmen in a compulsory overrun and I was obliterated by a ridiculous number of ASF attacks. The Knights fled from Panic before they could move... bah.

I felt I played this game really badly and was very disappointed - not the end to the tournament I had hoped for! The more I think about it the more the Cannons should have gone for the Bolt Throwers... sigh.

Looked to me like I'd peaked far too early in the tournament (end of day one, lol) and this in itself - my inability to play the long game - was probably the biggest learning experience of this game. Yeah, a little more luck (like, not getting 4 stupid misfires) would probably have sorted the Dragon meaning the Swordsmen would have survived and charged the Dragon Princes which might have sorted them out but then Warhammer is full of "what-ifs" :) Joe was a polite enough opponent but I think at this stage we were both feeling pretty tired and his army was a little more reliable than mine and maybe (maybe mind you!) he didn't have to think quite as hard about his play to make the magic happen. Actually this is an army I would quite like another game against (possibly will catch Joe at Runefang in a couple of weeks) as with a bit more (ok, a lot more) clear thinking I reckon I could take him.