Cancon is over for another year, and I have survived my first foray back into the depths of 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy. As usual, I distracted myself by taking photos during all of my games, so here we are with another series of battle reports.
Prior to the tournament, I played a total of 4 games of 6th edition to test out a few potential armies, and to get some handle on the rules again. One of those games was with Dwarfs, so I was confident of my complete mastery of the army when I decided to take it to the tournament.
Initially I had dismissed Dwarfs as an option, figuring that they would be a pretty static, depressing army to play. There's a reason why most Dwarf armies you see end up in a castle formation with plenty of ranged firepower - they don't have a lot of choice. But then I realised the Anvil of Doom was a viable option to help the Dwarfs pull off some charges of their own, and decided it was a good opportunity to use the one I painted in the Slow Grow last year. In the end, this was my list:
- Runelord on Anvil of Doom with Master Rune of Balance, Rune of Stone, Shield, Great Weapon
- Thane with Battle Standard, Master Rune of Gromril, Rune of Resistance, Rune of Cleaving
- Dragon Slayer with axes, wearing pants (so more than some Slayers)
- 10 Quarrellers with Great Weapons
- 10 Quarrellers with Great Weapons
- 10 Quarrellers with Great Weapons
- 18 Hammerers with Shields, Full Command, Rune of Courage
- 18 Ironbreakers with Full Command, Rune of Courage, Ancestor Rune
- 18 Miners with Full Command, Steam Drill
- Stone Thrower with Engineer, Rune of Accuracy, Rune of Penetrating
The list was based around the principle of a couple of "anvil" units capable of receiving a charge, and the Quarrellers with great weapons being ready to flank or counter-charge once things got close, probably with the assistance of the Anvil of Doom. The Miners were obviously also hoping for some help charging as soon as they appeared behind the enemy. So the Anvil had some work ahead of it, provided it didn't mess up its 2+ rolls.
I felt the amount of shooting was relatively modest for a Dwarf army - one piece of upgraded artillery, and 30 crossbows. The Anvil could lend a hand too, hitting and slowing a unit each turn until the charging became relevant. As it turned out, the TOs considered asking me to change the list due to the amount of shooting. They mainly thought it was a lot of crossbows, and to be fair, the entirety of my Core had been spent on them. I did try playing around with variations on the list, but they all felt like they made the army less functional, and honestly I didn't really expect 30 crossbows to do much damage against most opponents - I hoped it might be enough to deal with some light distractions, and mainly be enough of a threat to make people move forward and engage me. In the end they had given me the green light to stick with things as they were, so in the absence of anything I would be as happy with, I just went with it. I didn't expect the army to do especially well as it was, and didn't think my shooting would be enough to make anyone really miserable.
The tournament somehow managed to attract 50 players, which is an awful lot for a game that has been dead for 16 years. Every army except Chaos Dwarfs made an appearance, along with a number of variant Storm of Chaos and "back of the book" lists like Sylvanians, Errantry War and Blood Dragons. There were 5 Dwarf armies, which was the most with the exception of Vampire Counts (if you counted the variant lists). It was a pretty good mix, although it offended my hipster sensibilities to be using one of the most popular armies. Oh well.
The event was a very gentle 4 games spread over 2 days - a far cry from the old hectic Cancon marathon of 8 games over 3 days. It lent things a more relaxed vibe, although in all honesty I could have handled another game given it was all I had signed up to do when we were up in Canberra. But more games squeezed in probably would have made things feel more like serious business, and I don't think that was the goal. Nor am I convinced I really wanted that either.
Game 1 - Outflank
Angus Mackie - Dogs of War
- Mercenary General with Sword of Might, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield
- Paymaster on Barded Steed with Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance
- Hireling Wizard (Level 2, Lore of Heavens) with 2 Dispel Scrolls
- Mercenary Captain on Pegasus with Heavy Armour, Shield, Lance
- 23 Pikemen with Heavy Armour, Full Command
- 9 Voland's Venators
- 11 Crossbowmen
- 5 Light Cavalry with Spears
- 5 Light Cavalry with Spears
- 8 Duellists
- 13 Long Drong's Slayer Pirates
- 3 Ogre Leadbelchers
- 2 Ogre Maneaters with Great Weapons
- Cannon
- Halfling Hot Pot
Angus' whole army was painted in fancy non-metal style. It was very nice.
