Last weekend saw a trip down south to Bristol, this was
great fun as there was a few of us coming down from t'north. (Walter Simpson, Paul Welsh, Nick
Williams, Sam Barker) Much drink and fun was had Friday night, Matt James the TO even joined
us/tried to get us drunker still. :P
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And relax...
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I brought my Varangrr of course, my current army. I’d had
success at Altibash the weekend before, so decided to stick with something
similar.
We arrived nice and early (if somewhat worse for wear) and started with the champagne
mimosas. :D
Game 1 – Ed Herzig –
Trident Realms - Dominate
Ah Ed, he’s an old friend of mine, but we’d never played KoW together!
To rectify this Ed challenged me, and I was happy to accept.
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| Gorgeous! |
Ed’s list was really solid, and the army itself looked
lovely. :)
As you can see below I decided to put both my Chimera down one
flank, and they faced off vs two Knuckers. I briefly considered holding them just
out of charge range but figured Ed would keep me at bay all day if I did, so instead I
moved up to by the impassible Height 4 rocks and placed both Chimera together angled towards each other slightly, thereby
preventing a multi charge onto either model. I picked on one Knucker with a Conclave and slightly
damaged it.
Ed held off with them, out of charge arc, then on the following turn I used a Chimera’s breath attack and the Conclaves to rout one, and luckily wavered the other just with the 2nd Chimera’s breath attack!
Ed held off with them, out of charge arc, then on the following turn I used a Chimera’s breath attack and the Conclaves to rout one, and luckily wavered the other just with the 2nd Chimera’s breath attack!
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| Lets get ready to rumble! |
On the left my Fallen closed up and prepared to flank, I had
a charge onto the Depth Horrors with my Fallen with Blood of the Old King. I went in, used the artefact and it hugely helped, popping the Depth Horrors in one go and leaving my
Fallen behind Ed’s line.
It all started to go badly for Ed now, as he tried to block all the
potential flank/rear charges, he missed one and the Fallen behind the line got a rear charge into his Giant!
The Chimera’s mopped things up too around the rear until eventually everything routed. Ed only got to kill my Wolves who I sacrificed to prevent his nasty Placoderm horde from getting to a better position and eating my units.
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| The end is nigh |
Big win to me. Ed is a gentleman and took it with good
graces, it was really nice to get a game in with him though next time it will
hopefully be closer.
Game 2 – Paul Fordham
- Varangrrr - Ransack
Paul was the stand in player, he'd also got a really big win
in round 1. He was running Varangrrr with a lovely painted army. The list itself was pretty tough.
This game started off quite well for me as I advanced my
Chimera (Haste) onto the flank, partially behind the impassable height 4
terrain. Paul’s Herja chased after it, but my Chimera ignored her completely
and landed behind his line. (out of sight of Herja)
On the right with my 2nd Chimera, (Pathfinder) we
had a Chimera off, with our Magus Conclaves trading shots for several turns. My
Pathfinder Chimera ended up speeding into the centre wood for a flank charge
and eventually Paul’s Chimera charged into the terrain, bounced, and was routed
in return.
Back on my left with Fallen pushing into the front and a
Chimera behind they didn’t last long and I ended up with a big win.
Game 3 – Nick Williams
– Abyssals – Control
I was pleased to draw Nick as we’d had a great game a month
or so earlier at Haven. His list was powerful and looked to be an excellent match
for the scenario.
Unfortunately we only got a couple of turns in when Nick ended
up having to concede, as he wasn’t feeling up to continuing. It was a real
shame, as I had hoped to earn the win more, (it had started well for me, but you
never know how a game will go) But a bit of rest was nice and left us both
feeling ready to continue on in Game 4.
Game 4 – Paul Fox –
Abyssals – Scavenge
Yes! I’ve been really wanting to play Paul again! I’d played
him 3 times in the past and got 2 losses and a draw, and those results had kept
me from winning the Clash of Kings and Masters! So this time I was super keen
to play as well as I possibly could and earn myself a win!
His list was strong, however I noted that I had the long
range firepower advantage, also from previous experience Paul doesn’t tend to
sacrifice his units, which was helpful foreknowledge as we’ll see!
We both deployed the majority of our forces on the left
flank, with a lesser amount on the right and my Conclaves in the middle. I went
first, I pushed all the Fallen forward slightly just out of 20” of his nearest
flyers. On the right I moved my Wolves within charge of the Tortured Souls with
Haste and set up a flank charge with the Haste Chimera. Paul went for it,
failed to rout them and then I countercharged, putting the Haste Chimera into their flank and took them out. It took a few turns but between them and the Magus
Conclaves I was able to rout everything on the right. (I lost my Wolves but it was a fair sacrifice)
Now back in the middle Ba’su’su came out to play with my
Pathfinder Chimera, the Chimera bugged out (pivot, run away 11") and then Ba’su’su decided rather than chass it fancied
a Conclave instead (which it failed to rout due to the difficult terrain
penalty)
At this point I brought back the Pathfinder Chimera, and one of Fallen in the stand off, bugged out. (Nimble turn, go 16”) towards the centre threatening Ba’su’su. The Chimera Breathed and combined with the other Conclave I got a waver! Ba’su’su tried to crawl away, but the Chimera and Fallen joined together and ripped him to shreds. (very satisfying! :p)
At this point I brought back the Pathfinder Chimera, and one of Fallen in the stand off, bugged out. (Nimble turn, go 16”) towards the centre threatening Ba’su’su. The Chimera Breathed and combined with the other Conclave I got a waver! Ba’su’su tried to crawl away, but the Chimera and Fallen joined together and ripped him to shreds. (very satisfying! :p)
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| Just before Ba'su'su is killed |
Meanwhile back on the left, the Tortured Souls all moved forward just into their charge range, then I backed out of it, this continued all
the way till turn 4, when Paul finally committed a regiment further forward
than I could back out of! Also at this point his unit's finally got to the Ransack token,
I sacrificed my Fallen at this point to prevent him getting a token till turn
6.
Both Chimera’s grabbed a token as did the Fallen giving me 3
tokens. Paul took the Fallen out on the left with ease but was then unable to
generate more than one token.
On the final turn 7, Paul had one chance, he charged the
slowly reversing Fallen, (now speed 5 without Nimble due to the token) with his
Well of Souls if he rolled well, he could take the token and grab a draw. It
was not to be, giving me a win! Hurrah, my first ever win against him. :-D
Thanks to my sacrifice on Fallen on the left Paul actually killed slightly move than I did making the result 14-6 to me. Phew, great game, and I think I showed extreme restraint on my left, but I knew I had to play the scenario and play it well to pull off a win. :)
Thanks to my sacrifice on Fallen on the left Paul actually killed slightly move than I did making the result 14-6 to me. Phew, great game, and I think I showed extreme restraint on my left, but I knew I had to play the scenario and play it well to pull off a win. :)
So end of day 1. We went out for a nice curry and had a few
drinks, including some rather excellent cider! Mmm…
Day 2.
Just two games today, and I felt a bit more refreshed after
some extra sleep! Let's get it on!
Game 5 – Matt James –
Orcs – Push
Aha I got to play the TO, who had won every game so far same as me. He had a lovely Orc list with Abyssal Allies. (yes I face Tortured Souls,
3 games on the row!) I was pleased to get to play Matt as I’d enjoyed hanging
out with him over the weekend, also by reputation he was a very good player so
I knew it’d be a tough game, which it was!
Taking the Great Ax Horde in
the centre with the tokens had to be done, but it was well protected which meant dealing with
the flanking units first, or that was the idea...
Matt went first and advanced generally including putting his Haste Krudger on Winged Slasher into 22” range of my Pathfinder Chimera. I decided to try and bait it into a charge into difficult terrain, this seemed sensible. However I foolishly didn’t check to see how far the 22” would get him and the Slasher neatly flew over the top and landed behind out of all my charge arcs… How many times have I done this to others? Well now it happened to me, and it wasn’t pleasant. :P
Matt went first and advanced generally including putting his Haste Krudger on Winged Slasher into 22” range of my Pathfinder Chimera. I decided to try and bait it into a charge into difficult terrain, this seemed sensible. However I foolishly didn’t check to see how far the 22” would get him and the Slasher neatly flew over the top and landed behind out of all my charge arcs… How many times have I done this to others? Well now it happened to me, and it wasn’t pleasant. :P
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| Eeeeeep! |
To compound the error, Matt’s Tortured Souls charged the
Chimera preventing me from simply flying away… I came up with a sacrificial
strategy, charge the T Souls with my Fallen and offer the Slasher a rear,
meanwhile pivot my Chimera to allow me to then deal with the Slasher assuming
the Chimera actually survived a charged from Gore Riders in the flank! O.o I
know it sounded risky but with terrain odds, were reasonable I’d be ok. (16
hits, 8 damage)
Thankfully it all worked! The Chimera survived, killed the
Krudger (rear attack) then turned back to the Gore riders for the front charge on Matt’s
turn. I breathed a sigh of relief as
crisis was averted. Sadly he didn't last much longer before the Riders ground him to dust.
On the left my Haste Chimera was being battered by Gakamak,
the Wolves dropped their token and ran into a flanking position on some
oncoming Orc Ax, but Gakamak then sped off and attacked them instead! Leaving
the Chimera to face the Ax by itself. Now interestingly Gakamak failed to waver
the wolves and my Wolves the wavered him in return! The Chimera dealt with the
Ax but was now heavily damaged. Gakamak used his Fury to countercharge the
Wolves, (who gave him that…) and routed them.
Now amusingly I was all set to breath attack on Gakamak and try to
kill him off when Matt pointed out his Wardum was in charge range, not one to
look a gift horse in the mouth I happily took that, which left me behind the
Greatax horde! (we'd both made a positioning mistake now!)
In the centre, I sacrificed my Horse raiders to block the Orclings and consequently the Great Ax behind them, this worked great keeping them in place for several turns. My poor Fallen though, my Skald’s
banechant from the Lute of Insatiable Darkness stubbornly refused to work, this meant my Fallen bounced and then got flanked and routed.
Ok it was looking decidedly dodgy, I had one Fallen unit
left, if they could rout the Gore Riders they could turn round and go possibly into the
Great Ax, with both them and the Haste Chimera, with at least one into the rear I
could just possibly pull off a win. No, the Bane-chant still stubbornly refused
to work and I bounced off… This spelled their doom and sadly the last realistic
chance of a win.
As I knew the Chimera couldn’t take out the Great Ax by
itself (short of a double 6 to waver it and a turn 7 and another double 6) I
decided to go for the fun option of charging the undamaged Krudger on Gore with
a chance of an overrun into the Gore Riders. It worked! I killed the Krudger and
wavered the Gore Riders. Except there were some pesky Orclings sitting behind the
Chimera, Not routing the riders meant a rear charge, 36 attacks later dead Chimera. :P
That left me with my Conclaves and the useless bloody Skald…
The Conclaves at least finished off both the Gore Riders and Gakamak before the
game ended, giving Matt a big win. (17-3)
Wow amazing game, honestly Matt outplayed me, he’s a damn
good player, I can’t wait to face him again in a future event. :)
Game 6 – George Kirke –Goblins
- Occupy
So now things we’re close at the top and I was playing
George. I knew I had to win for a chance at the top spot, and George is a great
player so I had to be careful. The absolute priority was to take out the War
Trombones and preferably the Bloodboil Wiz too.
After deployment, my Pathfinder Chimera was facing a hedge
with Trolls behind it, which seemed less than ideal so I bugged out, and flew
to the centre, into a wood, offering George’s Phantoms a flank. I figured if I could
withstand it, then my Fallen would take out the Phantoms, which they did.
On the left I moved up and prepared for operation KILL ALL
WAR TROMBONES!!! :p (note all my units were just out of 17” of them, so they could
not possibly shoot me) My Conclaves couldn’t see them, so they shot the Giant
instead. (minimal damage)
George’s turn saw little movement, bar the Goblin Rabble
which started heading forward. (clearing my view to the Trombones for the Conclaves!
Hehehe) George had planned to block my charge to a War Trombone from the Haste
Chimera but then moved the blocking unit giving me an easy charge. (oops)
My turn 2 saw mass charges everywhere! The Haste Chimera ate the
Trombone, the Pathfinder Chimera despite losing flight was still speed 10 so
ate another. The Conclaves wavered the 3rd! Excellent I love it
when a plan comes together. ;-)
To really rub it in, my Horse raiders shot his Wiz needing 6’s to hit, got a damage and wavered it… (sometimes dice do mean things)
To really rub it in, my Horse raiders shot his Wiz needing 6’s to hit, got a damage and wavered it… (sometimes dice do mean things)
On my right the Fallen crashed into the Trolls and bounced
with a waver. They bounced back and forward for a few turns but eventually I broke
through. The remaining Phantoms did do a fly over and charge into the rear, but
difficult terrain saved me unit, then a flank charge killed them off.
It should be mentioned that George’s right flank positioning was
excellent, he really took advantage of the obstacle, it pretty much took the
Fallen the entire game to get through, and if dice had been nicer could well
have seen George’s units winning instead.
Back in the centre my Chimera were feeling smug, they finished
off the final Trombone then eventually joined together to take out the Giant
before sadly one was killed. The Horse raiders played with the Mincer, using
Nimble to get to its flank and wavering it twice on the row! Before my surviving
Chimera eventually took it from behind.
As the mist cleared, I jumped onto several objectives and
glared at the Rabble Legion that I just didn’t have time to kill... (I’d pretty
much run out of time at this point, so had to pretty much skip fighting in my turn
6) We did get a turn 7 and with just seconds left I used my Chimera to breath attack the final Wiz and rout it.
George's final turn saw his Flagger run up to a horde of heavily damaged Wolves needing 6 to hit and rout them! :D Epic end to the game, and a big win to me.
George's final turn saw his Flagger run up to a horde of heavily damaged Wolves needing 6 to hit and rout them! :D Epic end to the game, and a big win to me.
Results
That left me with 1st overall, Paul Fox in 2nd
and Matt James in 3rd. (Paul Fox beat Matt in game 6) Paul Welsh won
Best painted with his beautiful Varangrrr.
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| What handsome chaps! |
This meant AGC claimed 2 out of the 4 Trophies! (Altrincham Gamers Club)
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| Me and the hunk. |
Overall
An excellent event, run well by Matt. It was very laid back
and I would highly recommend people attend any of his tournies in the future. The venue was
also good if somewhat hot! (better once they got the big fans going) My
opponents we’re all great and I had some excellent tactical games, cheers
everyone! :D
The social aspect was particularly good and Fri and Sat nights
were both really top, it was super cool having Matt hang out with us Friday,
and having Chris Morris stay Sat was great too, really nice to catch up with him
and admire his Smurf army. ;-)
Army Tweaks &
Well it worked fine, I still have issues due to my lack of an individual such as Herja but I managed alright and adding her costs more than I'm willing to pay. You can’t
have everything.
Hehe more than ever after being beaten by Matt’s Orcs it
makes me want to make my own Orc army, I’ve always been put off by the amount
of mini’s and painting involved, however I have come up with cunning plan
involving my airbush. :p
UK Rankings
Thanks to the win, I think that should put me nicely back in
first place, until the Clash of Kings UK at least. ;-)
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