Cancon 2018 Aftermath - Part 3

This is a continuation of my report of the recent Clash of Kings tournament at Cancon 2018. You can find the previous part here.

Game 3: Occupy
Bridget McGarry, Elves

2 games, 2 losses. I was beginning to detect a pattern. I was the common factor. Maybe it was me (gasp)?!?

I was starting to realise that my army didn't have a very large number of deployments. Bridget was able to hold onto her Dragon until after I was committed. I admit I was a little unhappy to see it arrive hard on my flank. Oh well, if I got the first turn it wouldn't be able to see anything...

I was a little undecided about how I wanted to Vanguard. If I didn't get the first turn, I was certainly going to be charged, and would have preferred not to get charged by both the Stormwind Cavalry and Dragon on the same target. I couldn't easily avoid it though, so was left simply hoping they would be greedy and spread out.

There were a few puddles on our table. Bridget's ranged threat was largely lightning bolts (12 between the 2 mages on foot). Not really enough to threaten the Sea Guard, but with piercing she could worry my better stuff with less nerve.

Right. So I didn't get the first turn. Bridget played it smart and sent both units into a single target - the one least likely to survive. The Wild Guard were less than pleased. They took 18 damage. And then Bridget rolled for nerve, and rolled a double 1...

It was a brutal time to roll double 1s. The Tree Herder was in the Dragon's flank, the Forest Shamblers were in the flank of the Stormwind cavalry. It was absolutely disastrous.

The Wild Guard received Bane Chant and helped the Tree Herder deal with the Dragon. The Forest Shamblers managed to handle the Stormwind Cavalry on their own. And so, in my first turn, Bridget no longer had a flank and had lost 2 of her most effective units. I even got to use the regeneration on the Wild Guard. To her credit, she took it well. But I think we both knew where this game was now going.

On the other flank, there was a bit of cat-and-mouse going on between our Stormwind Cavalry. My shooting was wearing down the Palace Guard, because the cover offered by the lake was giving Bridget's shooting units cover and making them less than ideal targets.

I think she was at a bit of a loss as to what to do about the crippled flank. A couple of regiments of Tallspears were left to try to stop the rot. One regiment charged my damaged Palace Guard and routed them (partly my fault - I had forgotten to heal them with the Green Lady the previous turn), then turned to face my other units. I charged the other regiment with both the Tree Herder and Forest Shamblers (I think they had charged the Forest Shamblers the previous turn), but I failed to break through. Pretty sure they wavered though.

The Palace Guard had failed to get out of harm's way, so I decided to be aggressive and hit them with my units on the flank. They routed, but now I had to handle whatever came looking for revenge.

The Forest Shamblers paid the price for failing to rout the Tallspears when the other regiment arrived in their flank. They did not survive the experience, which meant the Tallspears were able to turn to prepare for the arrival of the Wild Guard.

This was always going to happen. She couldn't pass up the chance to charge my Cavalry with hers. Fair play. The shooting was focusing on the Drakon, but he wore it heroically.

My Stormwind Cavalry didn't enjoy the attentions of their counterparts, as you can see. The Drakon did his best to help the team however, by doggy-paddling across the pool and interfering with the Archers.

The Tree Herder dealt with the wavered Tallspears whilst the Wild Guard did minimal damage to the unit in front of them. 

On the other flank things were becoming a bit of a struggle. My Stormwind Cavalry routed when they received a second charge from Bridget's, whilst the Drakon was not making much progress beyond disordering the Archers. He perished when the Cavalry got to him. My shooting did manage to remove the Mage with lightning 7, which helped from a ranged duel perspective.

The Tallspears counter-charged the Wild Guard and routed them, despite them by that point having regenerated most of the damage they had taken in the first turn. The Tree Herder took a dim view of this and routed them in a couple of attempts.

It was at about this point that most of Bridget's heroic resistance faltered. I shot the Stormwind Cavalry and Archers off simultaneously, whilst the mage on my right chased and shot hers to death with fireballs. The Tree Herder finished off the Tallspears, and in a single turn she went from 7 units to 3. But it wasn't over yet...

Much as I had finally gained what looked like an unassailable advantage in terms of units, I was again lacking in scoring ones. The Tree Herder and Sea Guard were the only things capable of capturing or contesting objectives, and whilst the Tree Herder had an objective under his control, the Sea Guard were too far away to get to one in a single turn. It was Turn 6. I had a choice. Rush for an objective and hope there was a Turn 7, or stand my ground and fire at the one unit Bridget had that could hold an objective - the Silverbreeze Cavalry. They had wisely taken cover, but I had a lot of shots... I did a single wound, and the game abruptly ended before I could do anything further about it. The game was a draw!

Given I was handed what probably should have been an overwhelming advantage with that double 1 roll at the start of the game, I had made mighty hard work of sealing the deal. It was probably a good thing for me that she had suffered that disaster at the start. Otherwise I probably would have had my butt kicked again!

Result: Draw, 11-9

You can find the next part of the report here.