Sunday 11 August 2013

Now what?

I made a resolution at the start of the year that I would use an army other than Empire at at least one tournament this year. There are a number of events coming up in Melbourne, however with my resolution not to go overboard with tournaments this year, I am only really expecting to enter one of them - Axemaster. That being the case, it seems to be crunch time if I am going to follow through on my resolution.

Axemaster is a 2600 point tournament running on the 7th-8th of September. The player pack can be found here. It's a well-established event and traditionally tends to be one of the largest on the Victorian calendar. I'm actually the defending champion from last year, but given I have no intention of trying to win anything this year, I expect someone else will take the title. All I need to worry about is what I want to use instead of Empire...


I'm sure this shouldn't be a difficult decision, but somehow it is. It's been a long time since I used an army other than Empire at a tournament, and it's become a habit. I have plenty of other options, but each has its pros and cons: 

I could use Ogres, however my old Ogre army has few options and none of the newer toys and I don't intend to paint anything more to match them. At some point my Empire Ogres will be an army in their own right, but 2600 points is well beyond their reach for now. Maybe next year. 

I could use Dwarfs, but again I don't have a vast supply of those painted, and I think it would be a path to frustration with the current Dwarf rules. I don't really want to inflict that upon myself or others.

I could use High Elves, but they're really all the rage at the moment with the new book and I hate using the same thing as everyone else. I also don't have any Phoenixes and I think I would feel like I was missing out without one or two of those. I look forward to using the new army, but maybe after the initial excitement (and popularity) in the tournament community has died down.

That leaves me with 2 real options - Wood Elves or Orcs and Goblins. 

I haven't used the Wood Elves for years, and they have the advantage of being unpopular. It could be because their army book is extremely ancient and they are in danger of feeling like a forgotten army. I have always liked my Wood Elves and it would be good to give them a run once more. To that end, I even started to re-base some of my older models so that they could be updated to not look quite so sad and old (some paint would be required as well). Wood Elves are still a realistic option, although I have since discovered at least 2 other people who are planning to use them at Axemaster, so maybe they're not quite as forgotten as I had imagined.
A number of my old Wood Elves undertake the de-flocking process
The process is simple. You leave the models in ankle-deep water (over the tops of the bases, but not over-doing things) for a few hours, and it softens the PVA without having any real impact on the paint.
Then you take a scraping tool (I was using a scalpel) and the grass and PVA comes off in a paste. Things are a little damp and messy, but it's a pretty efficient process. Far better than trying to scrape off the grass when things are dry. 
Finally there are the Orcs and Goblins. These guys saw plenty of tournament action back in the day, but that day was a long time ago. I haven't really played with them since the current book was released, and of course this means that they lack the new toys a bit like my Ogres do. Unlike the Ogres however, this bothers me a bit. I have a lot of painted greenskins and I really feel like they should be a viable army. I need to add some of these more exciting elements to bring the Orcs and Goblins back up to speed. There were also only about half as many greenskin players as High Elves, Empire and Warriors of Chaos players at Convic a couple of months ago - so they're not exactly super-popular at the moment. For the record, I would not be fielding a list with a Savage Orc "Death Star" and all the world's war machines and chaff. We'd be talking something more like this...
They're BEHIND YOU!!!
So this is my current dilemma. Do I go the Wood Elves, or the Orcs? Both are a "minority" army at the moment. Both need modelling work, and entering a tournament with them would give them a boost in that regard. 

What do you think?

25 comments:

  1. I'd vote Wood Elves, though that may be because the only army I own anymore is Wood Elves. I've always liked the archers in green... and I'd be interested in seeing what you use and how well it does.
    That being said... I'd really love to see your write-up of the greenskins at the tournament. Your Empire reports typically have me laughing hysterically at some point, and I can only imagine how amazing the Orcs and Goblins might be to read about.
    Good options either way, and I certainly look forward to reading about it later!

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    1. Hehe cheers. I guess I'll count that as a vote towards the Wood Elves...

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  2. I'd also go with the Wood Elves - mostly because I want to see the Disco Dryads in action at tournaments again.

    You could of course do something totally unexpected, and borrow an army... possibly a Warmachine army to get extra 'where did that come from??' points.

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  3. I vote Orcs & Goblins. If you're 50/50, and not concerned about podiums the OnG randomness can make things amusing for you and they're more fun to face than fleeing & shooting Elfs.

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    1. Hahaha, fleeing and shooting? I guess you've never seen me play Wood Elves. Let's just say that under the current army book, I don't think I ever got around to fielding Glade Guard. Although I think there would be a few this time.

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    2. Fair point, I can't say I've ever come across your Elfs. Treemen/kin are no more fun than weedy archers, though!

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    3. Sheesh, there is no pleasing some people...

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  4. I'd vote Wood Elves as well, for the purely selfish reason that I'm putting together my own WE tournament army! O&G would be amusing to play with though...

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  5. I vote Wood elves too. Theyre still my favourite army, and ive yet to see much of yours Greg.

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  6. Orcs and Goblins all the way. Thanks for the tip on re-flocking, I may need to do that.

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    1. Yeah, it makes a big difference and it's not hard to do.

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  7. I vote Goblins and Goblins. Leave the orcs at home.

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    1. Yeah, I've been there and done that. I'd sooner take Orcs and leave the Goblins at home.

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  8. Presently Wood Elves are leading the votes 4:3. Could be time to bust out the Dryads!

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  9. I'll Vote for OnG at 2600 you could bring some wacky combinations although I think your 25 points shy of 2 giants and an arachnarock for rare

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    1. I wouldn't be fielding any Giants. With my rolling they're exceedingly frustrating rather than terribly funny. Arachnaroks have promise, however.

      Well that makes it 4:4, although most people don't seem to have a strong preference. At present I am already considering a Wood Elf list, so unless something dramatic changes, I think I'll be going that way.

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  10. OnG.
    Oh and hi like your posts.

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    1. Cheers.

      The greenskins have now taken a narrow lead. If it gets any worse I might need to bow to public pressure...

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  11. In order to be helpful I vote WoodElves

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  12. when things go wrong for the greenskins they are so right though. :) you could still have woodelves. Throw one over a cook fire as a unit filler or something. :)

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  13. In a unrelated topic think you could add a review of skaven lores to your lored of magic reviews?

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    1. I did say I would do this a long time ago and never got around to it. I think the Skaven and Wood Elf Lores might be the only ones remaining. I must make the time to get them done...

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    2. Wood elves can wait. :)

      And you have the best written battle reports.

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  14. I vote Wood Elves. Just started reading your blog, its quite entertaining, and neat to see how things work in places other than my local and regional scene in the US

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    1. I think the Wood Elves have won out in the end. The vote is basically tied, but at this point the Orcs would be a lot more work, so I think they will have to wait.

      And welcome. Glad you're enjoying the blog. :)

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