Arc in the Old World 2026 Aftermath - Part 1

It seems there's an Old World tournament every month at the moment, and on the weekend it was a 2 day, 6 game event as part of the Arcfest convention. There were hundreds of people playing 40K downstairs, but in the end we only had something like 14 registrations for Old World. In the end this turned out to be fine - the whole thing had a real small community vibe, which was fun.

After the debacle that was my last tournament outing with a dubious High Elf list, this time I decided to make use of the relatively relaxed restrictions (just the Grand Melee and Combined Arms rules from the Matched Play guide), and fielded a silly Caledor themed army:

Yes, that's the whole army. It's tiny.

• Blood of Caledor Noble (General) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Lance, Seed of Rebirth
• Blood of Caledor Archmage (Level 3, Illusion) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Dragon Helm, Burning Blade, Seed of Rebirth
• Blood of Caledor Noble (Battle Standard Bearer) on Sun Dragon with Full plate armour, Shield, Lance, Seed of Rebirth
• 25 Lothern Sea Guard with Thrusting spears, Warbows, Light armour, Shields, Full Command, Razor Standard
• 6 Silver Helms with Heavy armour, Shields, Barding, Lances, Standard bearer [War Banner], High Helm (champion) [Charmed Shield]
• 6 Dragon Princes with Full plate armour, Shields, Barding, Lances, Drakemaster, Standard bearer
• Merwyrm

This was a very "slanted" list. Basically 1000 points spent on characters on dragons, except that they're little baby ones that don't really make you that tough, and fight more like a griffon than a proper dragon. However, they have all the mobility of a dragon, and you can still stack enough saves on them to make them relatively resilient. Unfortunately I had almost no points left to equip them, so the Nobles both had lances, and the Archmage had a 5 point magic flaming sword. Those were the only magic attacks in the army, so I really had to hope that I didn't run into a pile of ethereal stuff...

I included the Merwyrm because it was pretty funny to include what was essentially a fourth "dragon", albeit an unridden one that couldn't fly. In addition to my concerns about ethereal stuff, I was very aware that Lachie was somewhere in the field and would probably have a Star Dragon again. I knew I had no way to kill it. Oh well, nobody said the list was perfect. I could easily avoid him in an event where I would play half the people in the field, right...?

Game 1 - Upon the Field of Glory (Baggage Trains, Strategic Locations (3))
Ash Hughes - Night Goblins

• Night Goblin Warboss (General) with Light armour, Shield, Wollopa's One Hit Wunda, Trollhide Trousers
• Night Goblin Bigboss, Battle Standard Bearer with Light armour, Shield, Trollhide Trousers
• Night Goblin Oddnob, (Level 4, Waaagh! Magic) with Flying Carpet, Staff of Baduumm
• Night Goblin Oddgit (Level 2, Waaagh! Magic) with Idol of Mork
• 40 Night Goblin Mob, Thrusting spears, Shields, Netters, Full Command, Banner of Swirling Wind, 3x Fanatics
• 40 Night Goblin Mob, Thrusting spears, Shields, Netters, Full Command, 3x Fanatics
• 40 Night Goblin Mob, Shortbows, Netters, Full Command, Da Spider Banner
• 10 Night Goblin Squig Hopper Mob, Cavalry spears, Boss (champion)
• 10 Night Goblin Squig Hopper Mob, Cavalry spears, Boss (champion)
• Mangler Squigs
• Mangler Squigs
• Mangler Squigs

That doesn't quite add up to 100 points, so I think I'm forgetting some items or banners. Ah well. I had entered the event with trepidation about what people might be fielding (we'd seen 3 Cathay lists in the small field), so I really hadn't expected to find myself playing a pure Night Goblin army. I saluted Ash's bravery, but of course the last time I'd hailed the courage of a Goblin player, it had all gone sideways pretty badly...

Squig Hoppers ended up on either flank, but they didn't worry me too much. With the Dragon Princes and a Dragon over on the flank, speed was on my side.

I had the Merwyrm over on the other flank with the Silver Helms. The middle of the enemy lines was blocks of Night Goblins and a whole lot of Mangler Squigs.

The centre unit had the Warboss on the right, with the BSB next to him. The main Shaman was flying around on his carpet behind the Mangler Squig, with the little Shaman leading the other unit. These 2 units had all 6 Fanatics between them. Apparently Ash only got his hands on the base adapters that morning, so them being bright white was not by choice (and probably won't be forever).

I won the roll-off for the first turn, but graciously gave it to my opponent. Let him make the decisions and the early running. Various bounding units moved varying distances toward me. Most were cautious. but the one in the middle decided timidity was not in him, and launched himself right at my lines.

The stuff on my right barely moved up. Almost like the presence of 2 Dragons bothered them.

My Archmage cast Glittering Robe on herself, then boldly launched herself into the midst of dangers that largely don't roll to hit... She was close enough to go for the slower Mangler Squig, leaving the other one to be shot by the Sea Guard. She didn't charge alone, however. My BSB decided to take his chances alone against the main block of Night Goblins, flying in face to face with the enemy Warboss. To their credit, they didn't just fail a terror test and run off the table. Great Goblin discipline!

The Merwyrm decided he didn't rate any of the threats present on the flank, and advanced at full speed. The Silver Helms were much less confident.

As cagey as the enemy had been on my right, I felt like I had to do the same.

The Goblin Warboss pulled his One Hit Wonder out and thrashed it about wildly, but the best he could manage was a regenerated wound on the Dragon. In return about half a dozen Goblins fell, as well as the Goblin BSB. The Goblins were pushed back, but held their nerve. Then their ranks parted and the Fanatics began to emerge. Some immediately spun through the BSB's Dragon, knocking 4 of its 6 wounds off.

Another made its way through the Archmage's Dragon, doing a couple of wounds. This was progress of a sort, as the initial round of combat had resulted in no wounds on either side. But that was OK, there were more Mangler Squigs who could join in the fun...

The Squig Hoppers bounded into the Merwyrm, which didn't seem like much of a concern. But then the Oddnob Shaman floated across on his carpet and fired a Vindictive Glare into the combat, half killing the Merwyrm. That was not great, but the combat (and maybe the flank as a whole) should still be under control. Unfortunately, the Squigs disagreed. Despite needing 6s to wound, they managed to much 2 wounds off the monster before one of the Night Goblin riders somehow managed to knock the last wound off with his flailing sword, and the Merwyrm was no more. Not only that, but the Squigs carried on their momentum, into the flank of the Silver Helms who were sitting nearby.

And suddenly, neither Dragon was engaged... The Archmage and her mount suddenly remembered how to fight, and managed to kill both of the Mangler Squigs they were fighting, at the cost of another couple of wounds. The BSB continued to wade through the Night Goblins he was fighting, and won the combat again. This time the Goblins broke and were run down. I think I failed the test to reform afterwards, though.

There were Fanatics all over the place in the centre of the field, but flying around on Dragons has its advantages. After this picture, my general finally got into a combat: charging and killing the remaining Mangler Squig.

The Dragon Princes got to grips with the hesitant Squig Hoppers over on the right flank, making short work of them.

After killing the Merwyrm, the other Squig Hoppers chowed down on the flank of the Silver Helms and broke them, but couldn't catch the survivors because my poor Sea Guard were in the way...

Having finished off the Squigs, the Dragon Princes indulged in a little dressage, reforming to try to get around the tower.

After dealing with the Mangler Squig, my general turned in response to the sounds of dismay coming from the Sea Guard with the Squigs bearing down on them. My BSB had flown off to rip up the enemy baggage train, behind the Night Goblin archers over on that flank.

There are some significant gaps in my photos, so bear with me. The Archmage chased the Oddnob Shaman off the field before turning and working toward the remaining little Shaman at the head of the Night Goblin regiment over on my right flank. That was looking promising until the Shaman abruptly fired up and cast another Vindictive Glare, which proved too much for the already wounded Dragon and its rider.

After dealing with the baggage train, my BSB continued around the tower and into the rear of the Night Goblins with shortbows, except... they weren't there anymore. They got one sniff of the approaching Dragon, failed their terror test and ran incredibly quickly off the field.

Thankfully some of the Fanatics were developing a taste for rolling doubles, and there were no longer so many of the spinning through the centre of the field. It was getting safer to land.

The Sea Guard didn't even really try to fend off the Squig Hoppers. I mean, I told them to give up on the spears and use hand weapons and shields, but the way the dice were rolling suggested that they did not in fact have shields at all (rather like the models I was using, ironically)... Nearly half the unit perished, and they managed to topple a single Goblin from his Squig in return. At least we didn't break, but falling back did us little good. The Squigs then charged again, ate most of the remainder of the unit, and the only reason any Sea Guard survived was that they retreated through the Silver Helms. Happily at this point a Dragon reached the Squig Hoppers and wiped them out before they could cause any more damage.

There was meant to be an Archmage on her Dragon helping my Dragon Princes deal with this unit, but as it turned out I need not have worried...

...Right as I was sending another Dragon to help, the toll the Dragon Princes were taking became too much, and the Night Goblins fled the field.

At that point there were no Goblins left, so the field belonged to the High Elves. I had lost the Merwyrm, Archmage, and the vast majority of the Sea Guard - nearly all of which could be attributed to those damn Squig Hoppers. Both of my surviving Sun Dragon riders were down to 2 wounds, but happily that was not enough to concede points. It had really gone pretty well for me.

Result: 2498 / 856 Win