I survived the tournament, and somehow took over 300 photos on my phone. I'm sure I'll be able to weed my way through them to keep these posts manageable, but it seems like one game per post will be the way to go.
I posted previously about my list, but here it is again for convenience:
League of Rhordia (2000 points)
- Horde of Honour Guard with Indomitable Will
- Horde of Honour Guard with Indomitable Will
- Regiment of Knights
- Regiment of Knights
- Regiment of Knights
- Regiment of Halfling Archers
- Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
- Duke on Ancient Winged Aralez
- Baron on Aralez
- Mammoth
(I warn you now that the Dukes on Ancient Winged Aralez are likely to be referred to as "birbs" for much of the report, as that is how we were talking about them all weekend. I can't get it out of my head. I'm sorry...)
I didn't quite get everything finished before the tournament, but my efforts the night before the event ensured the halflings were at least not obviously incomplete. That was about the best that could be hoped for. Anyway, on with the report!
Game 1 - Smoke and Mirrors
Tim Stewart - Kingdoms of Men
- Horde of Polearms with Indomitable Will
- Horde of Polearms with Indomitable Will
- Horde of Polearms with Indomitable Will
- Regiment of Polearms
- Troop of Knights
- Mammoth
- Mammoth
- Giant
- General on Winged Beast
- General on Winged Beast
- Army Standard Bearer with Lute of Insatiable Darkness
- Hero on Pegasus with Indomitable Will
For once I know exactly what was in my opponent's list, because I printed it myself. And they're my models. Tim was in fact the only practice game I played with my army before the event, so it was a little funny to find ourselves matched up again in the first round.
Ah, this won't be confusing at all... Look how samey it all looks! You can see the hidden objective markers scattered all over the place. It's an interesting scenario. Each player only knows the value of the tokens that they placed on the other half of the field (they vary from 2 down to dummies with 0), and each player reveals one at the end of each turn.
Tim's centre (although there's nothing to the left of those knights, which I guess makes them the flank?)
The other flank, with a second birdie hiding behind the building
The view across the whole field.
My right flank (I had measured the gap, and the Honor Guard would fit through beside the pond, given the chance).
My centre.
I also had Knights on the flank, but I had more of them and they were properly on the flank...
Tim had the first turn and advanced sensibly, trying to ensure he didn't enable any charges from my units with Speed 7.
He commences some sort of anti-flanking maneuver, without actually getting close to the flank himself. Might be some sort of allergy?
I was already beginning to regret my cunning plan of moving up next to the pond. I was most certainly going to end up with hindered charges.
The full view of his lines at the end of his first turn.
I was outnumbered in terms of units on the left, and likely to end up having to deal with hindered charges. I focused on trying to put Tim in a similar situation, and stayed out of range of the Mammoth, who didn't care about terrain thanks to Strider.
In the centre I felt I was going to have to force some charges. The Knights hopped in front of the Halflings.
On the right I tried to ensure the Giant would only be able to reach the Mammoth, and that he would have support. I angled my birdie dog very badly here, failing to cover the other units from the flank. I think I was watching where the Polearms would end up too closely.
Best case scenario was to get the Polearms into a hindered charge and then win the war of attrition thanks to Iron Resolve and Radiance of Life. Stupid pond.
End of Turn 1
Tim worked out that I had failed to position the birdie properly, and set about punishing me by charging the Mammoth with the Giant and protecting his flank by engaging the Knights with his own birdie.
I had not quite managed to prevent a combo charge in the centre, as a Mammoth and Tim's second birdie joined forces.
On my left, the Pegasus decided he was needed elsewhere and bailed. The Knight troop didn't fancy a hindered charge all on their own, so consolidated their position somewhat.
This is where the Pegasus went. He flew over to interfere with the charge options of my Knights, engaging his Indomitable Will as he did so in order to ensure he couldn't be wavered.
I got away with the charges pretty lightly. 5 wounds on the Mammoth and 1 on the Knights. He nearly didn't knock off my Thunderous Charge. That would have been funny...
The Honour Guard also fared reasonably well, taking 7 wounds which dropped to 6 after Iron Resolve. In all, Tim's initial wave of strikes hadn't amounted to much.
In my second turn I had the choice of engaging either the enemy Winged Beast or the Mammoth beside him. I decided the birdie would be much easier to move, so went after him with both the Honour Guard and my own birb.
My Knights decided they didn't really have a better option than charging the uppity Pegasus. Shouldn't be too hard to move a middling hero like that.
On the left, I decided I needed both the Knights and the Baron on Aralez to engage Tim's Knight troop, given both charges were hindered.
Tim had gone for the smart play and not charged my Honour Guard on the right flank, meaning I would be the one with the hindered charge and any failure on my part would see me flanked by the regiment of Polearms. I went in anyway, because I couldn't afford not to. I had a lot more potential tied up in any stand-off.
With the units so close together and angled toward each other, both the Knights and Mammoth had the option of disengaging and then flank charging the enemy beside them. Given they were disordered, the Knights were never going to get through the Giant. So it was up to the Mammoth to try to smoosh the enemy birb, then work out how on earth he was going to avoid getting flank charged by the Giant.
On the left, the combat went well. The enemy Knights routed, and now we just had to withstanding the a taste of Mammoth vengeance.
The centre didn't go as well. My Knights only managed 5 wounds on the Pegasus and bounced off him, leaving their flank exposed to the Polearms. Maybe my charge was a little rash... The Great Birb Entanglement also didn't go as planned. I managed 7 wounds in total and bounced back. I think I wavered him, but I was still stuck there.
Meanwhile the Halflings were doing an important job, scurrying off sideways to go claim an objective.
Over on the right, the Mammoth rolled over the top of the enemy birdie. I then measured things up and decided that if I rolled a 5+ either forwards or backwards, I could avoid a flank charge. I elected to go backwards, rolled a 5, and then discovered that I had been wrong and I was still going to get flanked. Oh well. I also didn't manage to even waver the Polearms, which meant I was about to have to contend with many angry Polearm dudes in the front and flank.
As was prophesied, my faithful birb on the right flank copped the counter-charge from the horde of Polearms and the flank charge from the regiment. At least the flank charge was hindered, but that was an awful lot of attacks...
Turns out it's a bad idea to mess up a charge with a horde of Polearms looking at your flank. My Knights were about to learn this the hard way. The Mammoth charged my birb whilst Tim's recuperated.
The Mammoth decided he didn't like my Baron, and charged him rather than the Knights. I guess it made sense. He was the Inspiring source and had the lower nerve. But I reckon it was personal...
Just in case the Mammoth was not able to solo my whole flank, Tim was arranging to send a cheer squad of Polearms for moral support.
I also had a Mammoth, but then a giant clubbed hit him in the side of the head and he went off for a nap. On the bright side, Tim rolled like a turnip in his assault on my puddle birb. He actually started off rolling like a fiend with the Polearm horde, probably hitting me 15 or more times. But then he could only manage 3 wounds on 4+, in a dazzling display of 1s, 2s and 3s. As a connoisseur of bad rolling, I was suitably impressed. Hindered as they were, the flanking unit could only manage the same number of wounds. The birb shrugged it off, and suddenly things were looking very promising!
In the centre, my Knights were not so fortunate and they found 50 Polearm attacks (with Bane-chant, I think) were a bit much. They left in a huff, threatening legal action about workplace safety. The Mammoth found the birb much harder work, and basically bounced off him.
The other Mammoth also failed to finish the job, although he did much better in terms of wounds inflicted. My Baron wavered, but held his ground to give my Knights the opening they needed.
In my turn I ignored the Giant and set about cleaning up everything else on the flank. Hindered or not, I figured a flanking regiment of Knights could handle a regiment of Polearms. At the same time, the birb and Honour Guard resumed hostilities with the already damaged horde.
In the centre I decided to disrespect the enemy birb in order to flank the Mammoth. Given he was disordered, my own birb had little choice but to join in the fun there.
My Knights swept into the flank of the Mammoth (albeit with a hindered charge), hoping they could get the job done in a single charge before his cheer squad arrived...
On the right, everything went as planned and both Polearm units were overwhelmed. Everything spun to face the Giant, who was beginning to see the writing on the wall.
My assault on the Mammoth in the middle was also successful, allowing me to turn to face the main threats in the area (no Mr Pegasus, you don't count).
OK, so the flank charge on the Mammoth was hindered. But I did have 32 attacks. Did I really do only 3 wounds? Really? That is atrocious. Anyway, the Mammoth is still there. And the Mammoth's support crew are coming... At least they would also be hindered.
In Tim's turn the Giant decided he had to try, and went into the now completely fresh Knights. He was very alone, however.
The Honour Guard found themselves the focus on the attention in the middle, with all manner of birdie and Polearm being faved at them.
The Mammoth's cheer squad arrived, filling him with such confidence that he didn't even bother turning to face the Knights (I think Tim was just lazy).
My Knights did indeed find the attention a little overwhelming, and immediately routed. My flank was not looking all that great anymore...
Right, what's going on here? It would appear that my Honour Guard took very little damage from the combined efforts of Tim's Polearms, Pegasus and Winged Beast. They elected to spin and counter-charge the Pegasus, whilst my birb finished off Tim's. A bonus birb also arrived from the flank, as things there were deemed to be "under control"
I guess they do kind of look under control, but he is a fresh Giant. That will take some killing.
Realising the flank was lost, the Baron switched to evasive mode and set about trying to make a nuisance of himself.
The combined charge of my Honour Guard and Knights amounted to 6 wounds on the Giant, who then had a second crack at the Knights.
The Pegasus didn't survive the attentions of my Honour Guard, which left them free to spin back to face the Polearms, who were now rather alone in the middle.
Seeing my Halflings were heading for an objective marker, the Mammoth set off to intercept them. Doesn't seem a fair fight... I guess that was the idea. The Polearms turned to face the Baron, knowing they controlled the objective near the fence.
The Giant demonstrated the value of practice by wallopping my Knights on the second attempt, leaving me to wonder where I did actually have enough muscle on that flank after all...
In the centre, the Polearms also finished off the Honour Guard on the second attempt. They had multiple birbs to contend with, however.
With the Knights gone, the Honour Guard were left to handle the Giant alone. Their charge was still hindered, however. So their odds were not ideal.
In the centre, one of the birbs charged the flank of the Polarms whilst his friend flew off...
...looking to use the Army Standard with his silly evil lute as a springboard to get through to the flank.
And of course, being the avatars of death they are, the Halflings charged the Mammoth. It was a hindered charge, so they would halve their attacks, hitting on 6+. This made it an even fight.
Ignore that birb. He is dead, like everything behind him. But the Baron was still alive, making good use of his speed and Nimbleness. He was sitting between the Polearms and another objective, keeping them more than 3" away.
The Honour Guard did OK, with the doggies licking the Giant up to 11 wounds. At least we'd probably get him before the end, but would it be in time to get to an objective?
The birdie did maybe 6 wounds to the Polearms in the middle. It meant they were free to spin and hit him back, however. It was not really clear if this had been a worthwhile charge.
The plan of launching through the Army Standard hit a snag when the birb failed to break through him, and shockingly the Mammoth was able to hold off the Halflings. Obviously he was living on borrowed time, but for now he was completely unscathed.
Obviously the Giant was not done with my Honour Guard, however they had a big headstart in this duel.
Obviously concerned for his own safety, the Mammoth desperately tried to fight off the Halflings, almost succeeding in breaking them with a solo frontal charge. They held however, and the Army Standard didn't manage to wound the birb, which meant he could still fly over...
Honestly I'm not quite sure what the Polearms were thinking here. They made a dash for the objective, but were exposing their rear to the birb. I guess they figured they could take it, but he was a very fearsome birb...
The next charges over on the right and centre resolved my Giant and Polearm issues. I needed another turn (Turn 7) to consolidate my control of the objectives, however.
Having played their role to perfection, the Halflings were witness to a graphic display of violence as my birb flew over the Army Standard and into the flank of the Mammoth, routing it on the spot. This must have been pretty solid rolling, given how few wounds it had taken up until this point.
The game did indeed go to Turn 7, which was very obliging of it. Both units on the right moved to grab objectives.
On the left, the Polearms had a secure hold on the objective near the fence. The birb lacked the unit strength and attacks to take it back, and the Baron was loath to give up control of his own marker to help with the gamble. The Halflings had to fend off one last gasp attempt by the Army Standard to dislodge them from their objective, but given he was hindered, he was about as bad at fighting as they were. So they were fine.
In the end I controlled 3 more points in terms of objectives and had done a bit under 700 points more damage, which gave me a single bonus point for each. I had been fortunate in a couple of key combats, and it was enough to help me come out on top for the first game.
Wooooo here we go again! And off to a solid, bloody, victorious start no less :D Way to show your own minis who's boss!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this report and those to come - so many photos O_O
Yeah, so many photos...
DeleteAnd yes, my models should know better than to turn against me. Examples must be made of them!